'^ 234 
T245 

Copy 2 



ORGE 




A Chronicle of 
American Heroism 



COMPLETE MAP AND 
100 ILLUSTRATIONS' 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2010 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/valleyforgechron01tayl 



VALLEY FORGE 

A Chronicle of American Heroism 



FRANK H/ TAYLOR 




ISSUED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF 

THE VALLEY FORGE PARK COMMISSION 



PRICE, 25 CENTS 



PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 
PHILADELPHIA 



£ 



■Ta-fS^ 



Copyright, ]916 
BY FRANK H. TAYLOR 



¥ 



•^ 



NOV -9 1916 
©CI.A445572 




CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Important Features to be Seen at Valley Forge Park 7 

The Valley Forge Park Commission and Its Work 8 

Valley Forge in Seventeen Seventy-seven 9 

Impulse of the Valley Forge Centennial 11 

Movements of the Campaign of 1777 Ending with the Occupation of Valley 

Forge as a Winter Refuge by Washington's Army 13 

The British Army in Philadelphia • IG 

Occupation of Valley Forge by the Continental Army 18 

The Commander-in-Chief's Life Guard 22 

A Word Picture of the Camp 24 

Routine of the Camp 29 

The Cry of Distress 32 

Washington's Optimism 35 

The Coming of Baron Von Steuben 39 

The French Alliance ■ 45 

The Marquis De Lafayette 48 

Departure of the Army from Valley Forge 52 

Valley Forge in After Years 54 

General Return of the Continental Army Encamped at Valley Forge, Dec. 

31st, 1777 56 

Notes and Citations 58 





I^iinteil 1)V (.illirrt Stuart 



GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON 
Commander-in-Chief 



l-:nt;ra\ eil by T. Kelly 




NATIONAL MEMORIAL ARCH IN HONOR OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army of the Revolution and his Officers, located upon the Outer Line 
Boulevard near the intersection of Gulf Road. Designed by Paul P. Cret. Cost $100,000. Dimensions, fifty 
feet high and forty feet wide at base. Material, granite. 




HOME OF ISAAC POTTS, VALLEY FORGE. OCCU- 
PIED BY GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON FROM 
DECEMBER 25th, 1777, TO JUNE 19th, 1778, AS 
HEADQUARTERS OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. 






HALLWAY, \VASHIN{;T0N'S HKAIMJI AKTERS 

IMPORTANT FEATURES TO BE SEEN AT VALLEY FORGE PARK 

Washington's Headquarters (free) . 

Site of the Forge, half mile up the stream. 

Inner line of entrenchments extending from near the Schuylkill River to south flank 
of Mount Joy, about one and a half miles. 

Fort Huntingdon, three-fourths mile east from Headquarters. 

Fort Washington, one and a half miles south from Headquarters. 

National Arch on Outer Line Boulevard. 

Observatory upon the summit of Mount Joy, free. 

Old schoolhouse, built by Laetitia Penn and used as a hospital in 1778, upon Washington 
Lane, near Fort Washington. Now a museum. 

National Memorial Arch, Gulf Road and Outer Line Boulevard. 

WajTie Equestrian Monument, Outer Line Boulevard two miles south of Headquarters. 

Site of the Star Redoubt and Headquarters of General James M. Vamum, of Rhode 
Island, upon River Road one mile east from Headquarters. 

New Jersey Monument, Park Drive and Gulf Road. 

Waterman Monument, half mile east from Star Redoubt. 

Various reproductions of Continental huts, cannon marking sites of batteries, brigade 
markers, etc. 

The headquarters of a number of generals are located upon or near the Reservation, 
but being private property are not usually open to visitors. 




THE VALLEY FORGE PARK COMMISSION AND ITS WORK 

"To acquire, maintain and preserve forever 

The Revolutionary CAMP GROUND at Valley Forge, 

for the free enjoyment of the people of the State." 



The Valley Forge Park Commission, created by the State Legislature upon May 30, 
1893, met for organization upon June 11th following. The historic property thus far acquired 

and improved aggregates 472 acres and lies in an 
irregular form in both Montgomery and Chester 
^^ , counties. 

^Hf The State appropriations for this purpose to 

^V January 1, 1910, were $139,802.12. The Commis- 

^^^ sioners, in the expenditure of the sums thus far 

1^^ provided by successive legislatures, have created a 

,aX^ magnificent memorial park traversed by perfect 

roadways; have restored and preserved redoubts 
and entrenchments, erected massive markers of 
military positions; have seen placed upon its appro- 
priate site a superb equestrian bronze of Major 
General Anthony Wayne; have erected upon Moimt 
Joy a lofty observatory, and finally, having pur- 
chased the Washington Headquarters building from 
the patriotic association which had preserved it, 
have made it free to the many thousands who annu- 
ally visit this sacred spot. It is expected that further 
lands identified with the records of the Revolution- 
ary Encampment will eventually be added to the 
present park and that all of the original States 
whose sons suffered here will erect dignified memo- 
rials upon their respective camping sites. 

Recent memorials added to the attractions of 
the Park include the splendid National Memorial 
Arch, the shaft and bronze figure marking the site 
of the camp of the New Jersey troops and markers 
placed by the State of Pennsylvania (in honor of its 
Militia contingent) and by the State of Delaware. 
The present members of the Commission are: 
William H. Sayen, President, 1414 S. Penn Square, 
Philadelphia; John P. Nicholson, Vice-President, 
Philadelphia; John W. Jordan, Secretary, Philadel- 
phia; J. P. Hale Jenkins, Norristown, Pa.; William A. Patton, Radnor, Pa.; Richmond L. Jones, 
Reading, Pa.; John T. Windrim, Devon, Pa.: 




MONUMENT ERECTED BY THE STATE 
OF NEW JERSEY 



8 




THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FORGE DAM 

CHAPTER I 
VALLEY FORGE IN SEVENTEEN SEVENTY-SEVEN 

^T INETEEN miles in a direct line northwest from the centre of Philadelphia a small 
y stream, having its rise in the fertile bottoms of the Chester Valley, pours northward 
through a deep and shadowy defile into the Schuylkill River. Midway up this 
ravine, distant half a mile from the river, a small iron-working industry called the Mount 
Joy Forge had been in operation many years prior to the Revolutionary War. This forge 
was reputed to have been the first one built in the province. One report refers to its sale 
by the original owner in 1719, but Mr. Howard M. Jenkins, after a painstaking search of 
the records, states that it was built by Stephen Evans, Daniel Walker and Joseph Williams in 
1742, and was sold wholly or in part to John Potts in 1757. He also concludes that it was 
situated upon the northeastern side of the stream. It was also known as the valley forge. 
Further down the stream were a saw mill and a grist mill. Nearby, with an outlook upon 
the river, was the stone residence which, at the opening of the Revolutionary War, was the 
home of Isaac Potts, grandson of John Potts, who operated the saw and grist mills. Dating 
from 1773 the forge was owned by William Dewees, Jr., a colonel of militia. Information 
having reached the British officers that a quantity of ordnance stores and flour intended 
for the Continental Army was stored here, the enemy burned the lower mills during the march 
of the British column through this section in September, 1777. The forge was not burned. 
It was from this forge that many a camp-oven was provided with iron plates taken by the 
soldiers. 

9 




THE PRESENT MILL AND VALLEY ROAD 



The heights were covered by the primeval forest, but the arable land in the vicinity 
in both Montgomery and Chester counties was farmed by the thrifty Quaker and Welsh 
elements which had long been settled here. 

To the neighborhood of this retired spot came the Continental Armj-, upon December 
19, 1777, seventy-six days after the diastrous battle of Germantown. 

General Washington brought to this refuge from his camps in the vicinity of White 
Marsh, a place twelve miles from the city, a force of about 11,000 men. His army remained 
in its quarters upon these bleak hills six months, and during that period suffered hardships 
which have made the name of Valley Forge the synonym of all that is heroic and faithful 
in the fame of the men who served in the patriot army and finally secured to us the liberties 
under which this nation has ever since existed, prospered and multiplied. 

When the soldiers of the Continental regiments moved away from A'alley Forge upon 
the evacuatron of Philadelphia by the British they left, either in unmarked graves or in the 
hospitals scattered through the eastern part of the State, between three and four thousand 
of their comrades, who had succumbed to privations greater than which no army in ancient 
or modern times has been called upon to endure. 

Nothing could perhaps more significantly emphasize the misery of the time than the 
fact that no accurate or even approximate record of deaths at Valley Forge has been found, 
nor is it known with certainty where the common burial place is located. Of all the hapless 
victims of the camp but one of the multitude buried here sleeps in an identified grave. 

For a century the scene of this encampment remained without dedication to the sacred 
memory of these heroes. This reproach has been removed by the State of Pennsylvania. 

Few expenditures of money ha\'e been more wisely applied by the State of Pennsyl- 
^■ania in the effort to preserve our historic sites as object lessons for the patriotic instruc- 
tion of future generations. 



CHAPTER II 
IMPULSE OF THE VALLEY FORGE CENTENNIAL 

Upox June 19, 1878, the centennial of the 
withdrawal of the army from Valley Forge was 
celebrated by the presence of the Pennsylvania 
National Guards and by appropriate addresses 
from distinguished speakers. 

As a result of the patriotic impidse resulting 
from this event the Valley Forge Centennial 
Association was formed and money was raised 
to purcliase the old Isaac Potts house and its 
grounds, occupied by General Washington as his 
headquarters after the army had constructed its 
encampment. This was done, and the old mansion 
became a much visited place. 

Through persistent effort upon the part of 
the Association a Commission was appointed 
under an Act of the Legislature of May 3C, 1893, 
to carry into effect its purpose to acquire, by the 
State of Pennsylvania, "a certain ground at 
Valley Forge for a public park." 

The general contour of the encampment 
plateau is rolling, the average elevation being 
about two hundred feet above tide, but rising to 
the westward into two rounded elevations, which 
are respectively 340 and 424 feet high, the Valley 
Creek flowing along their precipitous western bases. 
From these hills, a clear view is enjoyed of a far- 
reaching expanse of country, now largely farmed or 
occupied by splendid private estates. 

Far down the field of Valley Forge, nearly one 
mile eastward from the Huntingdon redoubt, stands 
the shaft marking the grave of John Waterman, of 
Rhode Island, Commissary in Varnum's brigade. 
This monument is erected upon ground which, 
with its approach, was presented for the purpose 
by Major and Mrs. I. Heston Todd to the Daughters 
of the Revolution, who dedicated it upon Octo- 
ber 19, 1901, Peter Boyd, Esq., making the 
address. • 

To the southward upon the elevation occupied 
by the Pennsylvanians, an equestrian statue of 
Major General Anthony Wayne was dedicated 
upon June 20, 1908. One mile eastward is a modest 
marker erected by the State of Maine to the soldiers 
of that section serving with Massachusetts troops. 
Nearby, upon the same drive, is the Massachusetts ^,jj^ ^^^^^ WATERMAN MONUMENT, 
Memorial and the National Memorial Arch. WEST OF THE RIVER DRIVE 




11 




BRONZE MEMORIAL OF MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE 
Upon Outer Line Boulevard in Front of the Site of the Cantonment of His Troops, Dedicated June "20th, 1908 



MOVEMENTS IN THE CAMPAIGN OF 1777, ENDING WITH THE 

OCCUPATION OF VALLEY FORGE AS A WINTER 

REFUGE BY WASHINGTON'S ARMY 

May . Sir William Howes forces, comprising 18,000 effective troops in position 

at New Brunswick and Amboy. Washington, with about 6000 Continentals, exclusive of 
cavalry and artillery and of 500 New Jersey militia, (a total according to Bryant, of 7,300 
men) broke winter camp at Morristown and advanced to Middlebrook Heights, ten miles 
from New Brunswick. 

June . British army moved to Staten Island, American force still at Middlebrook. 

July 2S. British fleet under Lord Howe sailed from New York with entire British 
army in command of his brother Sir William Howe, appearing briefly a week later at the 
capes of the Dela\\are. Washington encamped on Neshaminy Creek, 20 miles north of 
Philadelphia. 

August 20. The enemy appeared in Chesapeake Bay. On the 23d Washington's 
army marched through Philadelphia and to W'ilmington. 

The enemy disembarked upon the 25th at the Elk River, 54 miles southwest from Phila- 
delphia. 

September 11. Battle of Brandy wine. Retreat of Americans to Chester, Philadelphia 
and Germantown. Americans then numbered about 11,000 men, exclusive of Gates' com- 
mand in the North. On the 15th, Washington advanced to Warren Tavern, on the Lancaster 
Pike, a heavy storm ruined the ammunition and led to a retreat to Yellow Springs and thence 
across the Schuylkill River near Phoenixville. Howe advanced at his leisure, covering a wide 
stretch of rich country. Upon the night of September 19th, a body of Wayne's men, detached 
to operate in the rear of the Briti.sh left flank, was surprised at Paoli, many being bayonetted. 

September 21. Howe's columns reached the Schuylkill River in force, crossing at 
several points above and below Valley Forge. L'pon the 26th they marched into Philadelphia, 
leaving a strong force in Germantown. 

October 4. Battle of Germantown, retreat of Americans to White Marsh about six 
miles north from Chestnut Hill. 

November 10. Lord Howe's ships invested Fort Miflflin and Fort Mercer below the 
city. An incident of this movement was the Battle of Red Bank, N. J., in which Count 
Donop, the Hessian commander, was mortally wounded. 

December 19. After an exhausting march from W'hite Marsh via Gulf Mills, Wash- 
ington's troops arrived upon the hills at Valley Forge. Foin- days later nearly 3000 men 
of this force were sick or too nearly naked to do duty. 

Lord Howe's Advance on Philadelphia, 1777 

From the Diary of a British Sergeant, hitherto unpublished. 

August 25. Army landed at Elk Ferry, 1st under Cornwallis at Elk Ferry, 2d under 
Kuyphausen at Cecil Court House. 

August 28. Army marched, arrived at Head of Elk. 

August 31. Cornwallis and Grant marched 4 or 5 miles to a small place called "Iron 
Works," returned to camp. 

September 3. Troops reached Pencador 4 miles east of Elk on road to Christiana Bridge. 
Americans made a stand at the bridge, but retreated to main body. 

September 6. General Grant from Elk, with his troops, joined the army. 

September 8. Whole army marched from the left by Newark 6 miles and encamped in 
the township of Hokesson. The two armies, British and American, 4 miles apart. 

September 9. One third of army marched toward New Market, Cornwallis with his 
Division to Hokesson Meeting House, others to Kennett Square. 

13 




HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL HOWE NEAR VALLEY FORGE IN SEPTEMBER, 17 



September 10. All met this morning and moved toward Brandywine Creek. 

September 11. Battle of Brandywine. 

September 12. Kuyphausen's men remained on Heights. General Grant moved to 
Concord. 

September 13. Cornwallis joined and proceeded to Ashton, 5 miles from Chester and 
encamped. 71st Regt. to Wilmington. 

September 16. Army in 2 columns moved from Ashton toward Goshen Meeting House 
and Downingtown. 

September 17. Early A. M. to Yellow Springs and at night to White Horse, Cornwallis 
2 miles beyond. 

September 18. Army joined and marched to Tredyffryn. Light Infantry to Valley 
Forge. 

September 20. Paoli affair. 

September 21. Army at Valley P'orge, line extended from Fatland Ford to French 
Creek. Moved to Pottsgrove. 

September 22. Part of army crossed at Fatland Ford, others at Gordon's Ford. 

September 23. Whole army encamped, left to Schuylkill and right on Manatawny 
road, with stony run in front. A force detached to Swede's Ford. 

September 26. Force under Cornwallis took Philadelphia. 



CHAPTER III 
THE BRITISH ARMY IN PHILADELPHIA 

Upon October 19, 1777, Sir William Howe moved his forces into the city of Philadelphia. 
The nervous suspense of the inhabitants, sustained already for many weeks, culminated, 
upon that memorable day, when a squadron of dragoons galloped down Second Street through 
crowds of expectant onlookers, soon followed by a column of the grenadiers, brilliant in their 
red coats, red caps, fronted with silver shields. Lord Cornwallis and his staff in the lead. 
Riding with them, their faces doubtless reflecting their sense of triumph, were five civilians — 
Joseph Galloway, Enoch Story, Tench Coxe, Andrew Allen and William Allen, all bitter 
Tories, men whose names were to appear a few years later among those adjudged to be 
traitors and aliens. 

Behind the grenadiers came the hated Hessians, barbaric in their fierce mustaches, 
their uniforms of dark blue and towering brass headgear. The columns, artillery and baggage 
s()(m choked the central streets of the town, and staff officers were busy everywhere in securing 
buildings of suitable comfort as headquarters ft)r their respective chiefs. With the adapta- 
bility of a trained and veteran force the army of British and mercenaries was later housed 
snugly and securely in the rear of their defenses for the coming period of comparative idleness. 
The streets were gay with brilliant groups, the taverns roaring with business, and pageantry 
of war everywhere rife. An entrenchment was run from a redoubt at a point now the inter- 
section of Twenty-second and Chestnut streets along the eastern side of the Schuylkill River 
to the elevation at Fairmount, which has, for nearly a century, been used as a basin of water 
supply. From a redoubt at this point the entrenchment was extended to the Delaware River 
along the ridge behind Hickory Lane (Coates Street, now Fairmount Avenue), and including 
the Bush Hill property. Behind this (see map) were aligned the regiments, just to the 
north of the present line of Callowhill Street. The old Briti.s'h barracks at Campingtown, 
Green Street, between Second and Third Streets, were used, and also the Bettering House 
and other large buildings. 

The several roads leading outward in the direction of the American camps were patrolled 
as follows: Ridge Road was watched by the Yagers. The light infantry of the line guarded 
Germantown Road. The light infantry of the guard patrolled Old York (or York Town) 
Road and the Queen's Rangers (provincials) watched the Frankford Road. These outer 
guards were, in turn, covered by bodies of cavalry, which operated, in fact, in all directions 
from the town in order to afford the country people, who were often hiding in the woods with 
their supplies, a safe conduct to market. This procedure continued through the winter 
attended by constant minor conflicts. 

Both armies foraged far. In February General Wayne detoured into South Jersey to 
obtain cattle, in which he was successful. Occasionally considerable expeditions of the 
British were sent out to forage, as in the case of the raid down the river to Salem, resulting 
in the massacre of patriot outposts upon Alloway's Creek at Quinton's Bridge and Hancock 
House. 

Within the town, where, with the soldiery, some sixty thousand people were living, the 
ordinary affairs of life proceeded much as usual. The general attitude of the British officers 
was conciliatory and there was little of malicious destruction. Money and the essentials 
of life were plenty, and some occupations flourished to an unusual degree. 

Sir William Howe had long before formed a resolution to resign the command of the 
British forces. Moved, perhaps, by the gloom which overspread the Britons after the fall 
of Count Donop at Red Bank and the spectacular destruction of the frigate Augusta and the 
sloop Merlin, he wrote as follows, upon the twenty-eighth of October, 1777, to the Secretary 
of State of the American Department, Lord George Germaine: 

16 




WASHINGTON'S OFFICE APARTMENT AT VALLEY FORGE 



"From the little attention, my lord, given to my recommendations since the commence- 
ment of my command, I am led to hope that I may be relieved from this very painful service. 
wherein I have not the good fortune to enjoy the necessary confidence and support of my 
superiors, but which, I conclude, will be extended to Sir Henry Clinton, my presumptive 
successor. By the return of the packet I humbly request I may have his Majesty's permission 
to resign." 

It should be recorded that this peevish letter gave occasion for great astonishment to 
the home authorities which had diligently promoted the means for sustaining Howe and his 
army in the field. 

In Tory circles there was much of g&iety, this culminating in the early summer with 
the fete of the famous Meschianza. 

Howe's opera bouffe "last appearance " in Philadelphia at this historic fete, with its 
mediaeval follies and flamboyant, "Thy laurels are immortal," set all of Great Britain astir 
with sardonic laughter, followed, after his arrival home, by a stormy period of recrimination 
between the crown and its supporters upon the one hand and General Howe and the opposition 
upon the other, the echoes of which reverberated to the beginning of another century. 

Thus ended the career in America of an officer who had proven himself, fortunately 
for the patriot army and cause, the most incompetent warrior in British history, a soldier 
of whom Stedman, the English historian of the Revolution, wrote sixteen years later, "None 
of his military exploits possessed either plan, object or decision, and the only fruit derived 
from the several victories of Sir William Howe, during the campaign of 1777, amounted ot 
no more than the acquisition of good winter quarters for the British Army at Philadelphia.'' 




MEMORIAL BOWLDER AND TABLET AT GULPH MILL 



CHAPTER IV 
OCCUPATION OF VALLEY FORGE BY THE CONTINENTAL ARMY 

When the Patriot Army moved from White Marsh the matter of the winter location 
was apparently still undetermined. A wide diversity of opinion existed among the general 
officers, some favoring a general assault upon the city, others proposing Wilmington, Lancaster 
and Reading. 

The first objective of the creeping army, after turning its back upon Camp Hill, was the 
opposite shore of the Schuylkill River. The advance found, upon reaching Matson's Ford, 
a force of 3,000 British awaiting them upon the opposite side. That night the Americans 
moved up to Swede's Ford and built a bridge of wagons, over which a force was thrown 
and the hills occupied around the Gulph Mills. Gulph Mills is situated about one and a 
half miles inland from the Schuylkill River and six miles from Valley Forge. The army's 
baggage was long in crossing the river and much confused. The majority of the soldiers 
slept, the first two or three nights, upon the snow-clad ground. 

The coming of the army to Valley Forge was so unexpected by the neighboring residents 
that they were taken utterly by surprise. Within a short time a military town of probably 
one thousand huts of logs had arisen and a large portion of the forest had already been sacri- 
ficed in the work of building and for fires. The stumps and brush were left along the declivity 
in front of the earthworks as a defense against storming parties. Later, when the redoubts 
were dug, a series of sharply-pointed pickets were planted between them. The redoubts 
were four feet high, with a ditch six feet wide. 

General W^ashington occupied his usual army tent and shared the out-of-door log fires 
of the soldiery during the work of building the huts, and it was probably upon Christmas 
18 




WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS Jlli; mi ICE, LtJOKlNG TUWAKD HALLWAY 




WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS 
The Rear, Showing Office Window and Reproduced Log Dining-Room 



Day that he accepted the invitation of Isaac Potts, the miller and the minister of Friends 
and moved into his snug house at the foot of the hill. Upon this day he found time to write 
up his ledger, making the following entry: 

"To expenditures in the different and continual movements of the ariiiy from German- 
town September 15 till we hutted at Valley Forge the 25th of December pr. mem., $1,037.00 
or £78.10." 

Washington's Military Family 

At the time of Washington's occupation of the Potts residence, his military family 
consisted of the following persons: Robert H. Harrison, Secretary, May 16, 1776, to March 
25, 1782; Tench Tilghman, Volunteer Secretary and A. D. C, August 8, 1776, to December 
2.'}, 1783; Alexander Hamilton. A. D. C, March 1, 1777, to December 23, 1783; Richard K. 
Meade, A. D. C, March 12, 1777, to December 23, 1783; Presley P. Thornton, 
A. D. C, September 6, 1777, to — ; John Laurens A. D. C, September 6, 1777, to 
August 27, 1782; Marquis de Lafayette; Captain Caleb Gibbs, Commander of the 
Life Guard. 

In May of the following year Dr. James McHenry became Secretary and John 
Fitzgerald replaced Thornton. The names of Matthew Clarkson and 
David S. Franks appear as aides-de-camp upon the Valley Forge 
oath list. 

Washington's Headquarters Building 

The surroundings of this principal existing memento of the camp 
at Valley Forge have been greatly improved. It is open every day 
throughout the year. Its several rooms are lined with interesting 
relics and documents. A bronze tablet in the hall bears testimony to 
the patriotic work of the Centennial and Memorial Association of 
Valley Forge in preserving in its original condition with the aid of 
the Patriotic Order Sons of America this sacred structure until it passed 
into the custody of the State. 

The rear room is said to have been used as Washington's office, 
after a log cabin had been built in the rear for a dining-room. The 
box in which he kept his papers is to be seen between the windows. 
The wing building contained the kitchen, beneath which was a cellar, 
reached by stone steps. 

Within recent years the grounds surrounding the Headquarters 
have been much improved by the removal of a number of buildings 
not of historic value and the construction of an automobile shelter. 
It is largely due to the efforts of patriotic ladies of Chester and 
Montgomery counties that not only has the Headquarters building 
been so carefully preserved, but that the entire reservation has been made, under the 
direction of the Commissioners, the splendid object lesson as it now exists. To the 
effective interest of former Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker is chiefly due the liberal 
sums devoted to the work. 




A PRIVATE OF THE 
LIFE GUARD 









2/. 






'^^-^ J^i^i^J^-?^ ^Z<f?^.^-^/ 



y-c^-T,^-' ' 






z^^/- 

^J^ 







3f /9\%' ^2^ 



<i<^^ 

^4^ 






<>^ 



,,^?TE>c3w ^a-i^Ce.^ yZ^'y-T^tz^ c/^i^*:^-^- 

zz^^^^^^^X^ 

lyo ^^^^^yZ/io-^-t—^ ^<x- y<-eyuy:x^y y\j2— 



^^^.^/^^^cp^^ - 'yS'/^f ^^72S /f S- 






/c^c-/^ 









. 324^''^4<^. 






VJ4S-4^ / 



^^^ 



/^ 



_/J5. ._ 



J^ 



Page in Washington's Ledgkr Including His Expendii lres 
While at Valley Forge 




5-^|grfi«Uie" 



WASHINGTON INN 

A Portion of which was Used as an Army Bakery, Originally the Home of Colonel AVm. Dewees 

THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF'S LIFE GUARD 

Captain Caleb Gibbs was promoted Major and Henry Philip Livingston became Captain 
of the Life Gnard in December, 1777. 

Captain Gibbs acted as disbursing officer for General Washington's military household, 
holding this relation to the General from June, 1770, to the end of 1780, as shown by the 
General's accounts. 

The Commander-in-Chief's Guard was formed, originally, under an order by Washing- 
ton dated at Cambridge, March 11, 
1776. For this purpose four men 
carefully selected from each regiment 
were detailed to this duty. Caleb 
Gibbs, of Ma.ssachusetts, became 
Captain, and George Lewis, of Vir- 
ginia, a nephew of General Washing- 
ton, was appointed Lieutenant. The 
corps numbered si.xty men exclusive 
of officers. 

While on duty in New York an 
attempt to poison the General was 
discovered, which involved several 
of the men, one of Avhom, an Irish- 

_ - ^ \nai\ named Hickev, was hanged in 

' T^ *"»-^ ,vi*. • ~w- -««>- consequence. 1 he guard, as reorgan- 

FLAG OF THE LIFE GUARD . 'z^d. May 1, 1777, at Morristown, 

numbered fifty-six men, exclusive of 
22 



^1 










I 



officers. This body was equipped as infantry, in addition to which a small force of horse 
was maintained, of which George Lewis was Captain. Special details from the cavalry regi- 
ments sometimes performed escort duty. 

The Southern troops, commanded by General Lachlin Mcintosh, of Georgia, occupied 
the hill to the left of Headquarters. General Mcintosh succeeded General Francis Nash, 
who died from wounds received at the Battle of Germantown. This Brigade was in close 
touch with Headquarters. 

Formation of the Second or Continental Army 

At the end of the year 1777 the original patriot army ceased to exist. By a resolution 
of Congress, September 16, 17(36, eighty-eight battalions of eight companies each were to 
be enlisted for three years "or the war." In these new organizations the greater part of the 
one-year men re-enlisted. These new regiments were styled the Continental Line and were 
apportioned to the several States as follows: 

New Hampshire, three regiments; Massachusetts, fifteen regiments; Rhode Island, two 
regiments; Connecticut, eight regiments; New York, four regiments; New Jersey, four regi- 
ments; Pennsylvania, twelve regiments; Delaware, one regiment; Maryland, eight regiments; 
Virginia, fifteen regiments; North Carolina, nine regiments; South Carolina, six regiments; 
Georgia, one regiment. 

As far as possible the organizations of each State were formed into divisions or sub- 
divisions, and were consecutively numbered. Although officially known by their numbers 
and States, they were more commonly designated by the name of their respective colonels. 
This practice is followed in the list of officers which subscribed to the oath at Valley Forge. 

In addition to these organizations four regiments of dragoons and four of artillery were 
established, and various bodies of rangers, scouts and similar independents were continued 
from the first army or recruited for the new one. The army list contains names of two 
Canadian regiments. 

In the spring of 1778 Congress authorized new regiments of sappers and miners. 








SITE OF THE STAR REDOUBT, GUARDED BY VARNUMS RHODE ISLANDERS 

CHAPTER VI 
A WORD PICTURE OF THE CAMP 



Probably the most effective existing word picture of the scene, when the camp had 
been established, is to be found in the memorable address of that talented young Philadelphian, 
Henry Armitt Brown, Esq., delivered at the Centennial celebration of the departure of the 
army from the camp. 

"These are the huts of Huntington's Brigade, of the Connecticut line; next to it those 
of Pennsylvanians under Conway. This is the Irish-Frenchman, soon to disappear in a 
disgraceful intrigue. Here in the camp there are many who whisper that he is a mere adven- 
turer, but in Congress they still think him a great military character. Down toward Head- 
cjuarters are the Southerners, commanded by Lachlin Mcintosh, in his youth 'the handsomest 
man in Georgia.' Beyond Conway, on the hill, is Maxwell, a gallant Irishman, commissioned 
by New Jersey. AVoodford, of V^irginia, commands on the right of the second line, and in 
front of him the Virginian, Scott. The next brigade in order is of Pennsylvanians — many 
of them men whose homes are in this neighborhood — Chester County boys and Quakers from 
the A'alley turned soldier for their country's sake. They are the children of three races; the 
hot Irish blood mixes with the cooler Dutch in their calm English veins, and some of them — 
their chief, for instance — are splendid fighters. There he is, at this moment, riding up the 
hill from his quarters in the valley. A man of medium height and strong frame, he sits his 
horse well and with a dashing air. His nose is prominent, his eye piercing, his complexion 
ruddy; his whole appearance that of a man of splendid health and flowing spirits. He is 
just the fellow to win by his headlong valor the nickname of 'The Mad.' But he is more 
than a mere fighter. Skilful, energetic, full of resources and presence of mind, quick to com- 
prehend and prompt to act, of sound judgment and extraordinary courage, he has in him 
the qualities of a great general, as he shall show many a time in his short life of one-and-fifty 
years. Pennsylvania, in her quiet fashion, may not make as much of his fame as it deserves, 
but impartial history will allow her none the less the honor of having given its most brilliant 
soldier to the Revolution in her Anthony Wayne. Poor, of New Hampshire, is encamped 
next, and then Glover, whose regiment of Marblehead sailors and fishermen manned the 
boats that saved the army on the night of the retreat from Long Island. Larned, Patterson 
and Weedon follow, and then, at the corner of the entrenchments by the river, is the Virginia 
Brigade of Muhlenberg. Born at the Trappe close by and educated abroad, Muhlenberg 
was a clergyman in Virginia when the war came on, but he has doffed his parson's gown 
forever for the buff and blue of a brigadier. His stalwart form and swarthy face are already 
as familiar to the enemy as they are to his own men, for the Hessians are said to have cried, 
'Hier kommt Teufel Pete!' as they saw him lead a charge at Brandy wine. The last brigade 

24 




ANTHONY WAYNE 

Brigadier General Continental Army 1777 to 1783. Brevet Major General 1783, Major 
General and Commander-in-Chief United States Arniy 1792 to 1796 





Bhigadiek General Jed Huntington 
Connecticut 



Brigadier Geveral Lachlan McIntosh 
Georgia 





Brigadier General Charles Scott 
Virginia 



Brigadier General George Weedon 
Virginia 





Bricadier General J. Peter G. Miiilenuerg 
Virginia 



Brigadier General Enoch Poor 
New Hampshire 



is stationed on the river bank, where Varnum and his Rhode Islanders, in sympathy with 
young Laurens, of Carolina, are busy with a scheme to raise and enhst regiments of negro 
troops. These are the commanders of brigades."' 

The several Major and Brigadier Generals occupied houses within short distances of 
their respective commands. 

Inspector General Baron Steuben and Brigadier Generals Conway, Smallwood, Arm- 
strong, Furman and McDougall were quartered in large huts on the Maurice Stevens property, 
just north of the field in which lies the grave of John Waterman. 

As a rule, it is said, the officers who became, with their staffs, enforced members of the 
country families proved agreeable and considerate guests. 

It is known that long after the close of the Valley Forge encampment letters of a most 
friendly character were exchanged by some of the Generals and the Valley Forge families. 




HE.ADQUARTERS OK M.\JOK GKXER.\L LORD STIRLING 



27 




yl^va. 





BRKiADIER GENERAL LOUIS L. DU PORTAfL 

Engineer of the Defenses 




HOUSE OF JOSEPH WALKER 

Headquarters of General Anthony Wayne 

CHAPTER VII 
ROUTINE OF THE CAMP 

While the army was pushing the work of housing itself, the engineer corps was planning 
the earthworks which were to protect them. These defenses were doubtless worked slowly 
out of the frozen ground by details from the several brigades, and were not completed until 
spring. 

Upon March 27 following, the Commander-in-Chief refers to the unfinished condition 
of the "Interior Defenses," and again upon April 3 he complains of the poor work done upon 
the "new line defenses." 

Lieutenant General Sir William Howe, in his defense of his conduct of the campaign 
in America, supplies indirect, but decisive, testimony regarding the wisdom of the selection 
of the Valley Forge heights for the American Army's hibernation and also the deterrent 
efTect of tlie toilsome entrenchments created there. He says: 

"I did not attack the entrenched position at Valle:y Forge, a strong point, during the 
severe season, although everything was prepared with that intention, judging it imprudent 
until the season should afford a prospect of reaping the advantages that ought to have 
resulted in success in that measure; but having good information in the spring that the 
enemy had strengthened his camp by additional works and being certain of moving him 
from thence when the campaign should open, I dropped all thoughts of attack." 

The structures which sheltered the army were built of logs and were fourteen by sixteen 
feet in dimensions. Wooden chimneys, lined with clay, w^re built against the rear sides. 
Twelve soldiers were housed in each hut. 

A quaint description of the scene during those early winter days at Valley Forge is 
that found in a letter written by Thomas Paine to Benjamin Franklin, who was in Paris. 

Washington offered a reward of twelve dollars in each regiment to the party doing the 
best and quickest work in building. 

It is not to be suppo.sed that having completed their log encampment, the army lapsed 
into idleness; upon the contrary, there was much for the able-bodied to do in cutting wood 

29 




REPRODUCTION OF A CONTINENTAL ARMY HLT 




REPRODUCTION OF AN ARMY HOSPITAL 



for the fires, foraging for supplies (these scarce and already difficult to find), and upon the 
part of the cavalry, a constant scouring of the country toward the city, with countless brushes 
with the outposts of the enemy. Drilling and the regulation routine were carried on daily. 

The Christmas holidays in this camp were anything but festive. Upon Christmas 
morning twelve men from each brigade were assembled upon the parade with ammunition 
and rations, who were dispatched with wagons to bring in supplies of flour, grain, cattle 
and pork. Unfortunately, shoals of loose soldiery had marauded the country ahead of them, 
abusing and robbing Tory and Patriot alike. This license Washington took measures to stop. 

Just before the New Year a party of American soldiers at Wilmington captured a ship 
in the Delaware River coming from New York, which proved to contain much that was 
valuable to the Patriot Army, especially in clothing for officers. 

It would be interesting to trace the final disposition of these goods and discover what 
proportion the regimental officers finally got and to what extent the jobbing gentlemen 
around Congress, at York, were profited by the capture. 

At the end of the year many of the soldiers were still living in tents, but as fast as the 
huts were ready the tents were delivered to the Quartermasters to be cleaned and stored for 
use in the next campaign. 

The scarcity of side arms for the officers led to the order that those not having swords 
should cease carrying guns, which tended to distract their attention from their men, and 
to obtain half-pikes. The pikes, or Aspontons, were "to be six and a half feet in length, 
one and a half inch thick in the largest part, the iron part to be one foot long." 

There is evidence that some regiments fared much better than others and that the 
Pennsylvanians, especially many of the officers, were far from being destitute. 

Between December 22nd and January 28th Washington wrote five appeals to Congress 
for help. The last of this series of letters was a lengthy statement written for the use of a 
Congressional Committee then visiting the camp. This Committee was composed of Francis 
.Dana, Joseph Reed, Nathaniel Folsom, John Harvie, Charles Carroll and Gouverneur Morris. 
The Committee remained here nearly three months, occupying a large house two miles west 
from the camp, known as "Moore Hall," which is still existent. 




CHAPTER VIII 
THE CRY OF DISTRESS 

Whatever may have been the disposition of its individual members to afford effective 
relief to the suffering soldiers. Congress had not the initiative power to do more than make 
representations to the States in behalf of their respective brigades. As a matter of fact, 
the body at York was but the shadow of a government. Among the unwise measures to 
which its deliberations had given birth, that which detached the Commissary Department 
from the control of the commanding General was probably one of the most mischievous. 
The baleful mark of petty jobbery seems to stamp this procedure and the effect was seen in 
confusion and waste, which were largely responsible for the misery of the ^'alley Forge winter. 
Fiske, the historian, cites testimony which alleges that hogsheads of shoes, stockings, hats 
and general clothing were left in the woods or by the roadside to waste because of a want 
of money antl teams to get them into camp. So constant was the fear of Congress that the 
army would get beyond civil control, that John Adams proposed the annual election of 
generals in lieu of the issue of commissions. The spectre of Valley Forge did not weigh 
heavily upon the minds of the statesmen at York. It was a gay winter in this temporary 
capital of the new nation. 

A member of the Congressional Commission reported with regard to the scenes in the 
camp, that "the men patiently yoke themselves together in little carriages of their own 
making, using grapevines for ropes, or load their wood and provisions upon their backs." 
They seemed to the foreign officers to be devoid of all enthusiasm. 

Outposts and patrols were established across the country as far as Barren Hill, which 
is but ten miles from the centre of Philadelphia. 

Under the direction of General Sullivan a log bridge was constructed across the Schuylkill 
River at a point one mile below the mouth of the valley stream, its position now being marked 
by a marble stone inscribed with a record of the bloody footprints left by the shoeless soldiers 
who marched upon duty here. 

Long before the date of its migration from Camp Hill to Valley Forge the commands 
were very generally destitute of proper clothing, the uniforms and blankets being worn out 
with use. The resources of the country were inadequate to the problem, and as winter 
advanced the soldiers by hundreds covered their semi-nakedness and misery within their 
huts. In midwinter two thousand men were without shoes; sentries stood guard with feet 
in their hats. 

Before many weeks had passed a large proportion of the army had succumbed to cold 
and hunger combined, and those of the sufferers who had not perished were distributed in 
temporary hospitals through the country to the north and west. 

Upon February 1st, 3,989 men were unfit for duty for want of clothes. Lieutenant 
John Marshall, afterward Chief Justice, wrote: "Although the total of the army exceeds 
17,000 men, the present rank and file amounts to only 5012." 

On February 12th, General Varnum wrote to General Green and "in all human proba- 
bility the army must dissolve. Many of the troops are destitute of meat and are several 
days in arrears. The horses are dying for want of forage. The country in vicinity of the 
camp is exhausted." 

On the 16th of February Washington wrote to Governor Clinton: 

"For some days past there has been little less than a famine in camp. A part of the 
army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked 
and starved as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity 
of the soldiery that they have not been, ere this, excited by their sufferings to general mutiny 
and desertion." 

82 



Upon tlie next day John Laurens wrote: 

"The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, 
shirts nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary 
to amputate them. From want of money they could neither obtain provisions nor any means 
of transport." 

One month after arrival at \'alley Forge, Washington issued a proclamation requiring 
all farmers within seventy miles from his quarters to thresh one-half of all their grain before 
the first of March, in order to make sure of a supply of both grain and straw. Many details 
of soldiers were sent out to do the threshing. 

Mrs. Washington arrived at Valley Forge upon February 10. She records the fact that 
the General's apartment is small and that he has had built a log structure in which to take 
their meals. 

Food supplies continued to be gathered from the unwilling farmers by force, payment 
being made in certificates, for the redemption of which Congress had made no provisions, 
whereas, tho.se who succeeded in getting their grain and other foods to the British Commissaries 
were paid a good price in gold. 

The annals of the country-side tend to show that by far the larger part of the farming 
people, nearly all of whom had relatives in the Patriot service, made constant sacrifices in 
order to provide help to the American Army. Bad roads and snows had much to do with 
the scarcity of food. 




lURTHPL.ACE AND HOME OF M.\.JOR GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE, 
Easttown, Chester Co., Pa. 




INNER LINE BOULEVARD 



CHAPTER IX 
WASHINGTON'S OPTIMISM 

In February a systematic market scheme was inaugurated, by which the Quartermasters 
were able to meet the farmers at designated places and buy such meagre supplies as they 
were able to bring. 

The constant anxiety with which historians doubtless properly credit the Commander- 
in-Chief does not find expression in his routine orders, l^pon thecontrary, his proclamations 
were usually optimistic beyond those of any of his Generals. 

Matters in camp were at their worst in the beginning of March, but Washington issued 
the following as a tonic to the Army: 

"Weedon Orderly Book, March 1st, 1778. 

"Thank Heaven our Country abounds with provisions and with prudent management 
we need not apprehend want for any length of time. Defects in the Commissaries Depart- 
ment, Contingencies of Weather and other Temporary Empedements have subjected and 
may again subject us to deficiency for a few days. But Soldiers, American Soldiers, will 
despise the meanness of Repining at such trifling strockes of Adversity. Trifling indeed when 
compared with the Tran.scendent prize which will undoubtedly crown their patience and 
perse verence." 

That the commanders of the opposing armies were constantly informed of all that took 
place in the rival camps to a degree not possible in modern armies .seems certain. Washing- 
ton was especially annoyed with the intercourse between the members of the sect of "Friends. ' 

35 





Brigadier (uonkral William Smallwood 
Marvlaml 



BuKjAUIKh General Henry Knox 
Artillery, Massachusetts 





Brigadieb General Daniel Morgan 
Virginia 



Brigadier General James M. Varnum 
Rhode Island 



I poll March 20th, Washington wrote to General Lacey: 

"Sunday next being the time on which the Quakers hold one (jf their general meetings, 
a number of that society will probably be attempting to go into Philadelphia. This is an. 
intercourse that we should by all means endeavor to interrupt, as the plans settled at these 
meetings are of the most pernicious tendency. I would therefore have you dispose of your 
parties in such a manner as will most probably fall in with these people." 

At this time patriotism was at a low ebb throughout the country, and the belief grew 
that it was only a question of time when the little army must dissolve and ail who had taken 
part in the Revolutionaiy movcnicnt sufi'cr punishment at the hands of the victorious 
British. 



do acknowledge the U 1^ I T E D STATES of A M E- 
R I'C A; to be Free, Independent and Sovereigqi S^tatcs, -and 
dcifl'ai'c that the people thereof owe no allegiance or obf di- 
caCOto Ge/orec the Third, King of Great-Britain; and I re- 
wjftflce, rcfufe and abjure any allegiance or obedience to him ; 

■xok \ do ^if'-^ii'y^ that I will to the uto)oft of 

my power, fupport, maintain and defend the faid Uflitcd 
States, agaiaft the faid King George the Third, his heirs and 
fuQceffors and- his and their abettors, affiftant* and adheyrencs, 
apd will ferve the faid United States in the oflRcc of -^/^^^n^ 
..^(^fv4<*^-^i^ —' — — ^ v/hich I now hold with frdelity, 
'ac<(ordiDg to the bcft of miy Ikill and under(Unding. 




^^s^t^^gCj^^ 





FROM ORIGINAL OF 0.\TH OF ALLECJI.XNCE SIGNED BY MA.JOR GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR 

The " Conway Cabal " 

In his own camp, for a considerable time, unknown to Washington, a conspiracy, which 
history has designated as the "Conway Cabal," was fomented for the purpose of displacing 
the General in command with Gates, the captor of Burgoyne. In this cabal were General 
Conway, a French-Irish "soldier of fortune," together with MifHin, Wilkinson, James Lovell, 
Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee, each of whom had some personal grudge against 
Washington. The movement failed, as it deserved to do, and the Father of his Country' 
continued to hold the love and admiration of his ragged and faithful army. It was due to 
the discovery of this treachery that the famous ^'alley Forge oath was required of all oflScers. 

The oath was administered under the direction of General Wayne. 

During the winter large numbers of prisoners were gathered at the camp and frequent 
flags of truce went to Philadelphia, to obtain such supplies for them as the enemy might 
choose to send them. 



37 




HOME OF CAPTAIN JOHN DAVIS 

One of Wayne's Officers, now Owned by the A. J. Cassalt Kslale 




HKADQUARTERS OF BRIGADIER OENERAL DANIEL MORGAN 



CHAPTER X 
THE COMING OF BARON STEUBEN 

See Note upon page 73 

Washington's marked preference for the foreign officers certainly bred heart-burnings 
among his native brigadiers and, in fact, with the officers generally. Many of the Frenchmen 
assumed airs of superiority over their American comrades of equal rank. They also under- 
rated the silent, stern determination of the Americans to achieve independence. Washington's 
attitude of diplomatic good-will toward the foreigners was, however, to finally justify his 
patience and good sense. 



MAJOR GENERAL FREDERICK WILLIAM VON STEUBEN 

When matters were at their worst, there came to Washington, with an offer of his services 
and sword, a veteran General of Prussia, Frederick William Von Steuben. This officer was 
made Inspector General, a place previously filled by the impotent Conway. 

General Steuben was the son of an officer in the German Army. He had served upon 
the staff of Frederick the Great, had been grand marshal of the Prince HohenzoUern-Hech- 
ingen, and was a traveller of distinction. At Paris he had met Franklin and Beaumarchais, 

39 




HKADQlAiriKHS OF^^IGADIER GENERAL J. PETER G. MUHLENBERG 




HKADQl ARTERS OF MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS MOT LIN 




HEADQl ARTKRS OK l.ORD CORNWALLIS M'.aR VAI.LKV l()R(.r.. IN SEFTKMRKR, \; 
While the British Army was in Occupation of this Section before Advancing to Philadelphia 



and thus became interested in the American cause. He had travelled from Boston to York, 
Pa., in sleighs in company with his military secretary, going thence to Valley Forge. 

This was the beginning of salvation. Within a few days Washington had found the work 
for the old disciplinarian. He was announced to the army as its new drill master. 

Baron Steuben is said to have been astounded by the condition of the army as he found 
it. His French cook, whom he had brought across the seas, abandoned his job in disgust 
and fled to the fatherland. 

In addition to the universal epidemic of colds, smallpox ravaged the camp, and the men, 
borne down by the awful weight of their sufferings, could hardly be dragged to their daily 
work. Deserters and spies were executed as an example, and the generals were busy with 
threats and entreaties. 

The great men who had less than a brief year and a half before so resolutely affixed their 
signatures to the defiant Declaration of Independence, were now largely replaced in Congress 
by those of smaller calibre and less exalted ideals. Regarding them, Livingston wrote in 
this severe strain: "I am so discouraged by our public mismanagement, and the additional 
load of business thrown upon me by the villainy of those who pursue nothing but acciuuulating 
fortunes to the ruin of their country that I almost sink under it." 

Clearly, Congress was afraid of Washington and the shadow of his dominant figure in 
the field. It was urged by some that there should be thirteen armies, each to be responsible 
to and look out for its own State. 

Both in the civil service and the army there were many who at this time, impressed by 
the seeming invincibility of the enemy, were chiefly occupied with the question of their 
personal safety and the protection of their property when the national project came to its 
impending end. In one of his letters to Congress from Valley Forge Washington called atten- 
tion to the fact that within a half year not less than three hundred officers had resigned and 

41 



gone home. Tljese men were, doubtless, largely influenced in their action by the manifest 
inability of Congress to extend that efficient support to the army necessary to its existence. 
There were men holding high commissions in the service who engaged in private negotia- 
tions with the Peace Commission which, coming from the King, expended several ineffectual 
months in their efforts to undermine the army and purchase the representatives of the people. 
Notwithstanding the suffering, there w-as much boisterous fun in the camps, for the 
American soldier must laugh sometimes, and there seems to have been the popular rage for 
the lottery, which was then a government institution. 

Immediately after Steuben began his task he formed one picked company, as already 

stated, and drilled them as a model for the others, 
laboring under the great disadvantage of a lack of 
English words, but the soldiers cheered his savage 
German oaths, and he soon became popular with 
the rank and file. By consent of Congress and 
Ceneral Washington he introduced a modified form 
of Prussian tactics, and before the end of the period 
in camp he had created an army of disciplined 
soldiers and schooled officers fit to command 
tliem. 

The order-loving spirit of Steuben began also 
to be reflected in the proclamations made from 
headquarters and by the Brigade Commanders. 
There was an effective policing of the Camps. 

The deaths among the common soldiers were 
so constant that there was little pretense of cere- 
mony, and it may have been to modify the con- 
trast presented by the pageantry of the funerals of 
officers with those of the rank and file that Washington 
issued an order upon this subject. 

Washington continued to anticipate, day by 
day, definite news of a' favorable nature from 
France. Anticipating possible delay or failure in 
this quarter, W'ashington had already been author- 
ized by Congress to requisition Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land and Virginia for 5,000 militia. 

The welcome accorded to General Charles Lee 
upon his return to the Army by exchange, April 21st, 
was most spectacular and flattering to him. The 
Commander-in-Chief made him his personal guest. 
He at once gave him the command of the right 
wing of the Army. Lee's subsequent conduct 
proved him unworthy of the plaudits of his fellow- 
soldiers or of the confidence of Washington. 
Regarding Lite's reception, Elias Boudinot wrote upon the same day: 
"All of the principal officers of the Army were drawn up in two lines, advanced of the 
camp about 2 miles toward the Enemy. Then the Troops with the inferior officers formed 
a line quite to head-quarters — all the Music of the Army attended. The General with a 
great number of principal Oflicers and their Suites rode about four miles on the road toward 
Philadelphia, and waited until Gen'l Lee appeared. General Washington dismounted and 
rec'd Gen'l Lee as if he had been his Brother. He pas.sed thro' the lines of OflScers and the 
Army, who paid the highest military Honors, to Headquarters, where Mrs. Washington was 
42 




VON STEUBEN MONUMENT ERECTED 
BY THE NATION.\L GERMAN AMERI- 
CAN ALLIANCE, 1915 




UKADQIAI! I Kits or MA.IOR (.KNKRAI. .MAK(^riS l)K I.AIA^KTTK 




HEADQUARTF.HS OF BRIGADIER GENERAL THOS. BRAUEORU 




PILLARS MARKING LEFT OK THl. TKN NS^ L\ A.NLV BRIGADES 
Upon Outer Line Boulevard 

and here he was entertained with an elegant Dinner and the music playing the whole time." 
By Washington's orders, April 22nd was observed in the Valley Forge Camps as "a 
day of fasting, humiliation and prayer." 

The answer of Divine Providence was already upon the seas, and borne by hard-riding 
couriers from sea-cost to the inland hills it came to the knowledge of Washington upon May 
day. One week later he issued the following general order, which was the beginning of the 
end in a war destined to continue nearly three years longer before its objects were effected: 




NEAR FORT WASHINGTON 



CHAPTER XI 
THE FRENCH ALLIANCE 

See Note upon page 75 

■' It having pleased tlie Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the course of the United 
States, and finally raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish 
our Liberty and Independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day 
for gratefully acknowledging the Divine goodness, and celebrating the important event 
which we owe to His Divine interposition. The 
several brigades are to assemble for this pur- 
pose at nine o'clock to-morrow morning, when 
their chaplains will communicate the informa- 
tion contained in the postscript of the Peiin- 
syhania Gazette of the 2nd instant, and offer up 
a thanksgiving and deliver a discourse suitable 
to the event. At half-past ten o'clock a cannon 
will be fired, which is to be the signal for the 
men to be under arms. The Brigade inspectors 
will then inspect their dress and arms, and 
form the battalions according to the instructions 
given them, and announce to the commanding 
officers of the brigade that the battalions are 
formed. The commanders of brigades will then 
appoint the field officers to the battalions, after 
which each batallion will be ordered to load and 
ground their arms. At half-past seven o'clock 
a second cannon will be fired as a signal for 
the march: upon which the several brigades 
will begin their march by wheeling to the right 
by platoons, and proceed by the nearest way 
to the left of their ground by the new position. 

This will be pointed out by the Brigade Inspectors. A third signal will then be given, on 
which there will be a discharge of thirteen cannon; after which a running fire of the infantry 
will begin on the left of the second line and continue to the right. Upon a signal given, the 
whole army will huzza, 'Long Live the King of France.' The artillery then begins again and 
fires thirteen rounds; this will be succeeded by a second general discharge of musketry, in a 
running fire, and huzza, 'Long Live the Friendly European Powers.'' The last discharge of 
thirteen pieces of artillery will be given, followed by a general running fire and huzza, ' The 
American States.'" 

The Commander-in-Chief and staff were the guests of the New Jersey troops during 
the religious services of the day, after which the general officers of the command joined him 
at the Potts mansion, whereat was served one of those famous dinners for which Washington 
always manifested a fondness. 

The length and breadth of Washington's exuberance upon the arrival of the good news 
cannot be more effectively shown than in the fact that two soldiers awaiting execution in 
the camp were pardoned and restored to the ranks by him in testimony of his joy. When 
we consider how rarely the Commander-in-Chief modified or reversed the finding of his 
courts-martial and how vainly, at Newburgh, it was sought to save Andre, we may realize 
the meaning of this gift of life to men who, perhaps, did not deserve it. 

Official confirmation of the great fact that Benjamin Franklin and his associate Commis- 
sioners had succeeded in their mission to the French Court had arrived upon April 13th, when 

45 




Benjamin Franklin 

To whose Diplomatic Skill was Largely Due the 

Sending of French Assistance to America 



tlic Krencli frig?ito La Sensit)U' sailed into I'almoutli (now Portland) harbor, bringing, as 
bearer of dispatches, Simeon Deane, brother of Commissioner Silas Deane. The news reached 
Congress at York upon May 2!2d. 

One of the most difficult problems in the administration of this far scattered camp was 
that of the control of liquor. Most of the courts-martial had their origin in quarrels caused 
1\V drunkenness. The sutlers were held accountable, and all taverns, except a few under 
special license, within a wide territory around the camp, were proliibit(>(l from selling any- 




MAJOR GENERAL NATHANIEL GREENE 

thing drinkable. Occasionally, as upon January 1, 1778, the Commander-in-Chief ordered 
grog for the whole army. Prices for liquor .sold in the camp were determined by Boards of 
Officers. 

Spring found the camps still destitute of blankets and clothing, those best provided 
having come hither from the Northern Army. There were sick in every hut, and a good 
bedding of straw was the best that most of the men could hope for. As the season advanced 
the mud was removed from between the logs to afford ventilation, and details were paraded 
for bathing in Valley Stream and the river. One week before the camp was abandoned a 
I)ortion of the army resumed its tents. 

46 



The men were drilled hard and often under the watchful eye of Steuben. 

It is said of the old martinet that he was up at three o'clock, took a smoke, had his coffee 
and, before daylight, was about the camp watching the process of starting the day's routine 
according to every proper formality, and short-comings were not tolerated in either officer 
or man. ' 




MAJOR GENERAL PALL .L G. M. DE LAFAYETTE 



Washington's spies warned him soon after the announcement of the French Alliance 
that there were evidences of activities upon the part of the enemy in the city. 

Upon May 8, at a council of war held at Valley Forge, the Commander-in-Chief stated 
that upon that date the Continental force numbered 15,000, not including horse and artillery, 
and that of this number 11,800 were at ^'alley Forge, the remainder being at Wilmington, 
and on the North River. 



• CHAPTER XII 

THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

See Notes upon pages 75 and 70 

• 

Eight days after the Alliance celebration the General issued an order, which began 
the active campaign of the year 1778. Major General Lafayette, a youth of but twenty 
years, was placed in command of a picked force of 2,500 men, infantry, artillery and horse, 
to proceed in the direction of Philadelphia and observe the enemy. 

This young French nobleman had proven the sincerity of his admiration of America 
and advocacy of the struggle, by leaving behind him his yoimg wife, a daughter of the Duke 
de Noailles, and coming to America at the head of a party of other foreigners, including 
Baron de Kalb and eleven other French, German and Polish officers. The leaky ship in 
which they ventured narrowly escaped wreck upon the South Carolina coast. 

.\fter a long journey through the Southern forests to Philadelphia, Lafayette and his 
associates were met with a cold rebuff from the consequential chairman of the Committee 
of Congress on Foreign Affairs (Lovell). Lafayette appealed directly to Washington, and 
upon July 31, 1777, he was appointed by Congress a Major General. Like Washington, he 
served without pay. 

Lafayette, while acting upon W'ashington's staff, was wounded at Brandywine. Later 
in the year, at White Marsh, he was given a command of a division whose Commander, 
General Adam Stephen, had been dismissed from the Army. 

It must have been inspiring to those who witnessed the "forward march" of the resolute 
column, which the dashing boy commander led down from the hills of Valley Forge. Barren 
Hill was reached upon the 18th of May. 

This expedition narrowly escaped capture upon the morning of the iOth, by a large 
force of British which approached from two directions. Lafayette succeeded, by almost a 
miracle, in regaining the west shore of the Schuylkill River, the army at Valley Forge pouring 
down tumultuously to help him. 

The column of 5,000 men under General Grant having marched all night from Phila- 
delphia, had gained the rear of Lafayette's camp undiscovered at daybreak. Wlien first 
observed they were ranged along the Matsons Ford Road, the head of the column at the 
junction with the Ridge Road. The distance from this point to the ford is two miles. It is 
an equal distance southward to Barren Hill. A body of light cavalry discovered the Americans 
hastening in disorder across the fields and through the woods toward the ford, which was 
by this rough "short cut" three miles from Barren Hill. The British commander had only 
to advance his force down the hill in the direct course of his march to certainly intercept 
and capture the flying Americans, but once more Fate intervened to assist the cause of Free- 
dom in the person of a thick-headed British general, who insisted upon guiding his sleepy 
and tired soldiers down the Ridge Road toward the Church at Barren Hill. 

Probably upon no event during the course of the war did the future history of America 
depend more truly than upon the decision made, that summer morning, at Harmonville 
crossroads, and seldom in the history of warfare has a commander been blessed with such 
unhoped-for "good luck" as attended Lafayette that same morning. 

Lieutenant John Marshall wrote from Valley Forge of the hard ride of Washington and 
a large party of officers to a point commanding a view, several miles distant, of the retreat 
of Lafayette's column at sunrise. 

Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe, in command of the Queen's Rangers, led the column of 
General Grant which was sent out from Philadelphia to cut off the troops of Lafayette, and 
explains the failure to do so to a halt made due to an uncertainty regarding the proper road. 

Among the soldiery sent to the Valley Forge Camp from the Northern Army were a 
considerable party of Oneida Indians. These men were employed largely as scouts. The 

48 



y 




Brigadier Genehal John Glover 
Massachusetts 



Major General Lord Stirling 

(William Alexander) 

New Jersey 





Lieutenant John Trumbuli. 

Soldier and Artist 

Pennsylvania 



Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton 




BRIDGE OVER THE VALLEY STREAM 



Oneidas were the only "Nation" of the famed Iroquois Confederation which took sides with 
the Colonists, the Five "Nations'" to the westward, in New York State, having been under 
the influence of Butler and other Tories, declared for the British. 

In the ceaseless attrition of outposts and raiding parties these aborigines were doubt- 
less the objects of much wholesome dread upon the part of the predatory enemy. 

General Greene had been appointed Quartermaster General in March, much to the 
advantage of the service. 

With the preparations for the summer large quantities of new equipment were received 
and distributed. The army still remained a picturesque thing of patches, but there was an 
end to inefficiency in the commissary service. 

Washington's numerous spies in Philadelphia confirmed his own intuitions that the 
enemy was contemplating a move from a position rapidly becoming untenable. 

In the patriot camp the warm weather restored the spirits and energies of the soldiers, 
who were constantly drilled, inspected and marched up and down the hills to fit them for 
battle or the pursuit of the enemy, as the case might require. 




HEADQUARTERS OF BRIGADIER GENERAL JOHN KNOX 




HKADQUARTERS OF MAJOR GENERAL BARON DE KALB 





■-^h' 



MEMORIAL TO THE TROOPS OF MASSACHUSETTS 

Dedicated June l!)th, 1911 



CHAPTER XIII 
DEPARTURE OF THE ARMY FROM VALLEY FORGE 

See Notes upon pages 77 and 78 

The movement of the army from Valley Forge began upon June 18. immediately upon 
the receipt of news brought by George Roberts that Clinton's forces were leaving Philadelphia, 
18,000 strong. Maxwell's brigade was rushed across the country into New Jersey to burn 
bridges ahead of the slow moving column of the enemy, hampered as it was with many miles 
of wagons containing all kinds of plunder and a large number of Tory followers. The army 
left Valley Forge with such haste that half-baked bread was left in the ovens and the country 
people found many forgotten implements in the huts. 

On the 21st the main army crossed the Delaware Ri\-er at Coryell's Ferry, and a 
week later came upon the flanks of the enemy. Then was fought the Battle of Monmouth. 

We may well imagine the fierce joy with which the Americans, now for the first time 
the pursuers, and with the memories of Paoli and the sufferings of Valley Forge fresh 
within them, threw themselves upon the great red serpent of the enemy now crawling 
painfully across the hot sands of New Jersey toward the sea and safety. 

It is said that about three thousand Tories left Philadelphia upon the British fleet. 
Clinton's column was heavily impeded by not only baggage, but by additional Tory families 
and their possessions. Extending along the Jersey roads for many miles it offered an easy mark 
for the Continentals. General Charles Lee, whose strange behavior at Monmouth brought 
upon him the wrath of Washington and deprived the patriots of a decisive \4ctory, was 
proven, nearly eighty years after the event, to have been a traitor and a tool of the enemy. 











S&. 


'■ 1 


^s 


'^M 




mm 


■1^ 


i- ... 


\\<^ ' 


m 




wfKtBSB^^^ 


\ 

em - ' * ''^1 




r 


a 


II 






■ 


m 




i^^^J^^^a 


^i^jMBim 




■BB 


■■n^ 



OLD SCHOOL HOUSE ON WASHINGTON LANE 



Built in 1705 by Letitia. a daughter of William Penn. Tradition has it that the building 
was used as a hospital by the army surgeons. This interesting structure forms a convenient 
place of refuge for visitors in the vicinity in case of showers. 

It M'as only after painstaking research upon the part of ex-Governor Pennypacker and 
the Valley Forge Park Commissioners that the historic value of this quaint little relic of 
Colonial days was brought to light. It is located in the Valley to the south of Mount Joy, 
upon Washington Lane. Nearly opposite is the school house in which the children of the 
neighborhood are now instructed. The artillery was parked in this immediate vicinity, 
which was the centre of the cantonment. 




INTERIOR OF OLD SCHOOL HOUSE 
Arranged as a Typical Country School of Colonial Days. A Free Collection of Interesting Relics is to be 
^ Seen Here 



CHAPTER XIV 
VALLEY FORGE IN AFTER YEARS 

The army turned its back upon a ruined region. Fences, forests, farm animals, domestic 
utensils, all had disappeared. In payment for their supplies and toil the residents held only 
wads ofdirty Continental script, which was afterward repudiated by the government without 
a shadow of justice. Where the blare of the trumpet or the roll of the funeral drums had 

echoed, where fires had glowed along the hills 
at night, silence and desolation reigned. It 
was only after a generation that the people 
roundabout fully recovered from the iron heel 
of war. 

About 1794 the Headquarters Mansion was 
sold by Isaac Potts to Jacob Paul of German- 
town, whose family lived there until IS'iG. It 
was then bought b\- a co-operative community 
from Scotland, upon the failure of which James 
Jones, one of its members, acquired it and 
occupied the place until 1850 or later. (Wood- 
man's History of Valley Forge.) 

Washington visited the old camp ground 
in 1787, and it is stated by Woodman, in his 
history, that in the summer of 1796 he again 
came, one day, accompanied only by a negro 
servant and walked over the hills of Valley 
Forge, conversing with persons he met, one 
of whom was the historian's father. Doubtless 
many others of those who dwelt here in the 
winter of our darkest days as a young nation, 
also revisited the spot with emotions of both 
sadness and triumph as long as veterans of the Revolution continued to live, but in 
course of time a busy nation all but forgot Valley Forge and its heroic story. 

The Tribute of a British Officer 

Eleven years after the close of the war, Stedman, the English historian of the struggle, 
himself a soldier under Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis, had the courage to conclude his two 
volumes (quoted upon other pages of this book) with the following impartial summary. 

"While the natural strength and spirit of Great Britain were embarrassed and encum- 
bered with the disadvantages and errors now enumerated, the Americans, in spite of a- thou- 
sand difficulties and wants, by the energy of liberty, the contrivance of necessity, and the 
great adv^antages arising from the possession of the country, ultimately attained their object. 
The Americans indeed were not fired with that enthusiastic ardour which nations of a warmer 
temperament, in all ages, have been wont to display in the cause of freedom. But they- were 
guided by wise councils, they were steady and persevering, and, on all great occasions, not 
a little animated by the courage of General Wa^ington, who has been proverbially called a 
Fabius, but in who.se character courage, in fact, was a feature still more predominant than, 
prudence. The American generals, having the bulk of the people on their side, were made 
acquainted with every movement of the British army and enabled, for the most part, to 
penetrate their designs. To obtain intelligence, on which so much depends, was to the 
British commanders a matter of proportionable difficulty. The Americans had neither 

54 




A SOLDIERS BAKE OVEN 




TYPE OF BRITISH SOLDiKKV OK (iEXEUAL HOWES ARMY IN PHILADELPHIA, 1777 78 

1. Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (Paoli Massacre) 4. Forty-second Highlanders, Black \Vatch (Paoli Massacre) 

2. Twenty-second Foot 5. Grenadier 

3. Seventeenth Light Dragoons 6. Sergeant, Cold Stream Guards 

i. Twentieth Foot 



money nor credit: But they learned to stand in need only of a few things; to be contented 
with the small allowance that nature requires: to suffer as well as to act. Their councils, 
animated by liberty, under the most distressing circumstances, took a grand and high-spirited 
course, and they were finally triumphant. 

"The Revolution in America, though predicted by philosophy, was generally considered 
as a remote contingency, if not a thing wholly ideal and visionary. Its immediate causes 
were altogether unforeseen and improbable. It came as a surprise upon the world: and 
men were obliged to conclude, either that the force of Great Britain was ill-directed, or that 
no invading army, in the present enlightened period, can be successful where the people 
are tolerably imited." 



GENERAL RETURN OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY ENCAMPED 
AT VALLEY FORGE, DEC. 31, 1777 



First Maryland Brigade 

1st Maryland Regt. (Col. John H. Stone). 
3d Maryland Regt. (Col. Mordecai Gist). 
5th Maryland Regt. (Col. William Rich- 
ardson). 

7th Maryland Regt. (Col. John Gumby). 
Delaware Regt. (Col. David Hall). 

Second Maryland Brigade 

4th Maryland Regt. (Col. Josiah C. Hall). 
6th Maryland Regt. (Col. Otho Williams). 
2d Maryland Regt. (Col. Thos Price). 
Col. Hazen's Regt. 

(The names of commanders of the Mary- 
land Regiments are taken from the roster 
of July, 1778.) 

Brig.-Gen. J. Peter G. Muhlenberg's 
Brigade of Greene's Division 

1st Virginia Regt. (Col. Richard Parker). 

5th Virginia Regt. (Col. A. Buford). 

9th Virginia Regt. (Lieut. Col. Burgess 
Ball). ^ 

Virginia State Regt. (Col. George Gibson). 

German Regt. (Lieut. Col. Lewis Weltner). 

13th Virginia Infantry (Col. William 
Russell). 

Brig.-Gen. George Weedon's Brigade of 
Greene's Division 

2d Virginia Regt. (Lieut. Col. Charles 
Dabnay). 

6th Virginia Regt. (Col. John Gibson). 

10th Mrginia Regt. (Col. John Green). 

14th Virginia Regt. (Lieut. Col. Wm. 
Davis). 

13th Pennsylvania Regt. (Col. Walter 
Stewart). 

(Raised as State Regiment of Foot March 
1st, 1777.) 

56 



Brig.-Gen. Wm. Maxwell's Brigade of 
Sullivan's Division 

1st New .lersey Regt. (Col. Mathias 
Ogden) . 

2d New Jersey Regt. (Col. Israel Shreve)- 
3d New Jersey Regt. (Col. Elias 

Dayton). 
4th New .Jersey Regt. (Lieut.-Col. David 
Rhea) . 

Brig.-Gen. Wm. Woodford's Brigade 
3d Virginia Regt. (Col. Wm. Heth). 
7th Virginia Regt. (Col. Alex. McClana- 
chan). 

11th Virginia Regt. (Col. Daniel Mor- 
gan). 
15th Virginia Regt. (Col. David Mason). 

Brig.-Gen. Charles Scott's Brigade 

4th Virginia Regt. (Col. Isaac Read). 

8th Virginia Regt. (Col. Abraham Bow- 
man) . 

12th Virginia Regt. (Lieut. Col. Levin 
Joynes) . 

Col. Wm. Grayson's Regt. (Infantry at 
large) . 

Col. John Patton's Regt. (additional In- 
fantry Regt., Pennsylvania line). 

First Pennsylvania Brigade 
Wayne's Division 

1st Pennsylvania Regt. (Col. James 
Chambers). 

2d Pennsvlvania Regt. (Col. Henry 
Bicker). 

7th Pennsylvania Regt. (Lieut. Col. David 
Grier). 

*Col. Thos. Hartley's (additional Regt. 
Lieut. Col. Morgan Connor). 

♦Acting Brigade Commander. 



Second Pennsylvania Brigade 
Wayne's Division 

4th Pennsylvania Regt. (*Lieut. Col. Wm. 
Butler). 

5th Pennsylvania Regt. (Col. Francis 
Johnston). 

8th Pennsylvania Regt. (Col. Daniel Brod- 
head). 

11th Pennsj^lvania Regt. (Col. Richard 
Hampton). 

* Acting Brigade Commander. 

Brig.-Gen. Anthony Wayne acting Divi- 
sion Commander. 

Brig.-Gen. John Patterson's Brigade of 
DeKalb's Division 

10th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Thos. Marshall). 

11th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Benj. Tupper). 

12th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Saml. Brewer). 

14th Regt., Massachusetts Infantrj', (Col. 
Gamaliel Bradford). 

Late Brig.-Gen. Conway's Pennsylvania 
Brigade of Stirling's Division 

3d Regt., Pennsylvania Infantry, (Col. 
Thos. Craig). 

6th Regt., Pennsylvania Infantry, (Lieut. 
Col. Josiah Harmer). 

9th Regt., Pennsylvania Infantry, (Lieut. 
Col. George Nagel). 

12th Regt., Pennsylvania Infantry, (Col. 
Wni. Cooke). 

Col. Malcolm's Regt. 

Col. Spencers Regt. 

Brig.-Gen. Enoch Poor's Brigade 

1st Regt., New Hampshire Infantry, (Col. 
Joseph Cilley). 

2d Regt., New Hampshire Infantry, (Col. 
Nathan Hale). 

3d Regt., New Hampshire Infantry, (Col. 
Alexander Scammell). 

2d Regt., New York Infantry, (Col. Philip 
Cortlandt). 

4th Regt., New York Infantry, (Col. 
Henry Livingston). 

Brig.-Gen. John Glover's Brigade 

1st Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Joseph Vose). 

4th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Wm. Sheppard). 



13th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Edward Wigglesworth). 

15th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Timothy Bigelow) . 

Brig.-Gen. Ebenezer Leamed's Brigade 
Baron DeKalb's Division 

2d Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
John Bailey). 

8th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Michael Jackson). 

9th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
James Wesson). 

16th Regt., Massachusetts Infantry, (Col. 
Henry Jack.son). 

Brig.-Gen. James M. Vamum's Brigade 

1st Regt., Rhode Island Infantry, (Col. 
Christopher Greene). 

2d Regt., Rhode Island Infantry, (Col. 
Israel Angell). 

4th Regt., Rhode Island Infantry, (Col. 
John Durkee). 

8th Regt., Rhode Island Infantry. (Col. 
John Chandler). 

Brig.-Gen. Jedediah Huntington's 
Brigade 

1st Regt., Connecticut Infantry, (Lieut. 
Col. Samuel Prentice). 

2d Regt., Connecticut Infantry, (Col. 
Charles Webb). 

5th Regt., Connecticut Infantry, (Col. 
Philip B. Bradley). 

7th Regt., Connecticut Infantry, (Col. H. 
Swift). 

Brig.-Gen. Lachlan Mcintosh's Brigade, 
(Sullivan's Division) 

1st North Carolina Regt. (Col. Thomas 
Clark). 

2d North Carolina Regt. (Col. John Pat- 
ton). 

3d North Carolina Regt. (Col. Jethro 
Sumner). 

4th North Carolina Regt., (Col. Thos. 
Polk). 

5th North Carolina Regt. (Lieut. Col. Wm. 
L. Davidson). 

6th North Carolina Regt. (Col. Gideon 
Lamb) . 

7th North Carolina Regt. (Col. .James 
Hogun) . 

8th North Carolina Regt. (Col. James 
Armstrong) . 

9th North Carolina Regt. (Col. John 
Williams). 



The returns of the artillery and cavalry arms with the army at Valley Forge are not 
included in the above Department Records. 



57 



NOTES AND CITATIONS 
The British Army at Valley Forge 

Sept 18 1777 

A man sent out discovered upwards of 3800 Barrels of Flour, Soap and Candles, 25 Barrels 
of Horse Shoes, several thousands of tomahawks and Kettles, and Intrenching Tools and 20 
Hogsheads of Resin in a Barn 3 miles from here at the Valley Forge. 

Sept 20th 1777. Weather extremely fine. At 2 o'clock in the morning the guards moved 
and posted themselves with the Light Infantry at the Valley Forge. Waggons employed 
in carrying off from the magazine there the rebel stores. This morning at 5 the rebel centries 
fired on the guards who took the whole. They slightly woiuided one of our officers. — Journal 
of Capt. John Montressor, Chief Engineer British Army. 

(This was the night of the Paoli massacre.) 

Upon September 21st, 1777, 14,000 British troops were camped along the road from 
Fountain Inn to the Fatland ford. The soldiers plundered all the houses and barns in the 
vicinity. 

Journal of Capt. John Montressor, Chief Engineer British Army. 

Sept 21st 1777 

At 5 this morning the Army moved, marched to the Valley Forge and 2 miles more to 
Moor Hall making 5 miles and there camped. We found the houses full of military stores. 

"The elegant seat of the late William Moore, Esq., near 600 acres, a very valuable grist 
mill; the River Schuylkill which bounds the lands for some distance affords a great shad 
fishery during the season." — Rental adver., 1783. 

Among the active troops in the British service in front of Philadelphia, the Queen's 
Rangers, a regiment composed of loyalists, was sometimes troublesome. They were com- 
manded by Lieut. Col. J. G. Simcoe, an English officer of enterprise, whose story of the 
achievements of his command in America was published for the edification of his friends in 
England and reprinted in 1844. The Rangers were among the soldiery upon this march and 
they probably burned the Valley Forge mills, as Simcoe claims to have occupied the Potts 
residence before Washington selected it as his headquarters. 

Bread for the Army 

The army bakers occupied Col. Dewees" house and built their ovens in the basement. 
This structure forms a part of the existing Washington Inn. Many of the country people 
baked bread for the camp upon the basis of a pound of bread for a poimd of flour. 

The Ravage of the Forge 

Wayne Orderly book, April 29th, 1778. 

"Complaint having been made by Mr. Dewees, the proprietor of the Valley Forge that 
the Soldiers pull down the houses and break up the Fore Bay of which is called the Valley 
Forge the Commander-in-Chief strictly forbids all Persons from Further Damages to the 
said Buildings and Works, which he hopes will be particularly attended to especially when 
they consider the great loss that Mr. Dewees has already suffered by the great Waste which 
our Army has been under the Necessity of Committing upon the Wood and other improve- 
ments." 

Where Southern Soldiers Rest 

It is said that upon the north side of "rear-line hill," which must have been in the vicinity 
of Mcintosh's command, a large number of skeletons of soldiers were exposed to view by 
the washing away of the ground years after the camp was abandoned, and it is also affirmed 
that those buried there were Southern soldiers. 

58 




PUBLIC OBSERVATORY UPON MOUNT JOY 




HEADQUARTERS OF BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES M. VARNUM 

The Barn was a Revolutionary Ho<!pital 



The Affair of Paoli 

Tlie massacre of Paoli was perpetrated l)y a column under General Grey, composed of 
the First Light Infantry, the Forty-second Highlanders (Black Watch) and the Forty-fourth 
Regiment. From the bloody work done by the Light Infantry they were known as "The 
Surprisers," and were singled out for vengeance by Wayne's troops, who sent word to them 
that they would give them no quarter in battle. Upon this the Light Infantry dyed the 
feathers in their hats red that they might protect the other troops from their especial enemies. 
The regiment still wears this red plume as a vested right. 

Equally as it is the province of history to preserve the names of heroes it should be a 
duty to save from oblivion for the detestation of ages to follow the memory of such monsters 
as Grey, the British General by whose orders all prisoners were niurdered at Paoli and a 
year later near Hackensack, N. J. » 

One of Wayne's companies of Light Infantry raised in Philadelphia was known as the 
"Red Feathers" and as such fought at Princeton in January, 1777. 

In the Family 

Mr. George Alfred Townsend informed the author concerning the not widely known 
tradition in England that the Howe's were "left-handed" cousins of George III. 

Industries at Valley Forge, Past and Present 

Upon March 24th, 1768, John Potts and Ruth, his wife, conveyed to John Potts, Jr., 
his heirs and assigns "all of the Iron forge called and known by the name of "Mount Joy 
Forge," a saw mill and grist mill and three tracts of land thereunto belonging, one of them, 
whereon the said Forge and mills stand situated in Upper Merion towTiship." I'pon May 
10th, 1768, this property was deeded to Joseph Potts and upon Sept. 30, 1773, it was bought 
by Wm. Dewees, Jr. 

Early iron making industries in this part of the country were Warwick furnace, 1737, 
Birdsboro furnace, 1740, Hopewell furnace on French Creek, 1759, Roxborough (afterward 
Berkshire) furnace, 1763, Oley furnace, 1770 and Green Tree furnace 1770. 

The iron used at the Valley Forge came from the Warwick furnace. 

From researches by Joseph E. Thropp, Esq. of West Conshohocken, printed in "Iron 
Making in Pennsylvania," by William Jasper Nicolls, it appears that a second forge was 
built soon after the Revolution upon the site of the present mill, which was conducted, in 
1786, by Isaac Potts & Co. This second forge was in ruins in 1816. Joshua Malin, the owner, 
had commenced the erection of the present mill buildings, but having failed the property 
was taken over by John Rogers, who had been a partner and with James Wood and Isaac 
Smedley completed the mill which is a part of the large structure now used as a factory. 

The Washington Memorial Chapel 

The Washington Memorial Chapel, which occupies an elevated site upon the river or 
Port Kennedy road, is much visited by strangers. It is upon private ground one-half mile 
east of Valley Forge Reservation. It was built under the authority of the Norristown Con- 
vocation, Prot. Episcopal Church and is both a place of worship and a patriotic museum. It 
was established mainly through the efforts of Rev. W' . Herbert Burk. 

After Many Years 

The first recorded suggestion looking toward the preservation of the Valley Forge en- 
campment ground by the public authorities was made at the semi-centennial celebration 
held here in the summer of 1828. 

The Valley Forge Headquarters' building was dedicated by the Centennial .\.ssociation 
of Valley Forge, upon June 19th, 1879. 

60 



The Road Up the Valley 

The pleasant road beside the valley stream did not exist prior to 1830, about which year 
it was constructed by Colonel George W. Holstein, Supervisor of Upper Merion. The spring 
along this roatl was probably unknown at the time of the encampment. 

John Waterman's Death 

Dear Sir Camp Valley Forge, Apl 24th 1778 

Captain Tew and myself arrived safe to post the 22d inst., found the encampment in 

perfect tranquility and the enemy peacable in their quarters. Am sorry to inform you that 

yesterday died of a short illness that worthy gentleman John Waterman Esqr. Commissary 

of our brigade. Humble servant 

(Rhode Island Continental Line) William Allen. 

It is an interesting fact that four officers in the army bore the name of John Waterman; 

all were from New England. 

Losses at Germantown 

Of the 5,70'} American soldiers reported present at the Battle of Germantown about 
1000 were killed, wounded or captured. Among those killed upon the British side was Gen. 
Agnew whose body is interred in the old De Benneville cemetery upon York Road. 

Prominent Philadelphia Loyalists 

The three sons of Chief Justice Allen, of Philadelphia, members of a wealthy and promi- 
nent family, were originally inclined to the patriot side. In 1774 Andrew Allen was First 
Lieutenant in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, from which he resigned. William 
was a Lieut. Colonel in a Pennsylvania Regiment on duty in the North under St. Clair. 
Both brothers sought the protection of Howe, and the third was placed under surveillance 
by the American authorities. William recruited a Loyalist regirtient. James Allen died 
Sept. 19th, 1778. Enoch Story was appointed by Howe Inspector of Prohibited goods, but 
in the course of the year departed for England. 

Joseph Galloway, a wealthy lawyer, became general superintendent in city affairs during 
the stay of the enemy, with Avhom he departed, and his estate being confiscated he repaired 
to London and occupied himself by writing circulars abusing Howe for losing the country 
to the crown. 

Probably through the intervention of his friend Franklin, part of the estate, belonging 
to his wife, was afterward restored. 

The British Troops in Philadelphia 

Much of the artillery was parked in the State House (Independence) Square. 

Some of the grenadiers occupied the State House. 

The Hessians and part of the grenadiers were located on Callowhill and Noble Streets 
between 4th and 5th Streets. Other troops along north side of Callowhill Street as far as 
the present Broad Street. Eight Regiments were behind the entrenchment between Bush 
Hill and Fairmount. The Yagers were at 22d Street and Pennsylvania Ave., the dragoons 
had three foot regiments between Vine and Race Streets west of 8th Street. 

General Howe was first quartered at the residence of General Cadwallader, Second Street, 
below Spruce, and later he occupied the house on High Street, east of Sixth, which was years 
afterward the dwelling of President Washington 

Philadelphia's War-Time Population 

May id7th 1778. The number of souls in Philadelphia comprehending the Army, sea- 
men and Inhabitants, consist of 60,000. • 

Journal of Capt. John Montressor, Chief Engineer British Army. 

61 



Recruiting the Tories 

Philadelphia Nov. 15th 1777 

"Three Regts of Provincials raising, Aliens, Chalmers and Cliftons, the latter Roman 
Catholics." 

Journal of Capt. John Montressor, Chief Engineer British Army. 

May 7th 1778 

Allen's and Clifton's Regts were sent to Gloucester, the 3d Provincial Regt, Chalmer's, 
going into camp near the Schuylkill river below the upper ferry. 

Blacklisted in 178 1 

A "Black List" was published in 1802 containing the names of 486 tories who were 
attainted of High Treason in the State of Pennsylvania, being men who adhered to the King 
after July 4th, 1776, and most of whom were pronounced by the Supreme Court of the State, 
in 1781, to be aliens and devoid of civic rights. 

Country Seats Destroyed 

The British burned, upon November '2'id, 1777, all of the buildings in front of their line 
of defense, some twenty-seven houses, several of them being fine country residences. 

Snug, Comfortable and Confident 

"The lines at the North End of the City are nearly compleat, they are ditched and 
facin'd from Delaware to Schuylkill, between each Redoubt. — They have pulled down Peal 
hall and all the rest of the houses facing their Redoubts. They have ordered all the wood 
within their lines to be cutt for the use of the Army, they are takeing up houses & when the 
empty ones are full they quarter the rest on the Inhabitants — The army are very healthy 
& very saucy, say they have men enough to defend their Lines whilst Comwallis clears the 
Country." 

From secret intelligence sent from Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 1777. 

Analysis by an Unappreciative Hessian 

" — just as Congress consists of Scoimdrels so the Army consists of people warmed up 
in part by the war party, also their only support is in the war, and who are unwilling to ex- 
change sword for last and needle, or who may fear that their former masters, whose serfs 
they are, would harness them to the yoke, as soon as they surrendered their Captain and 
Subaltern patents. This is the army proper of the enemy, numbering about 12,000 men. 
The remainder substitutes and militia of whom ten or twenty thousand are mobile at times, 
these fight only for the Province in which they dwell and have been unable to resolve joining 
the Army and going into another province.* * * This is about a fair picture of the present 
situation: The enemy is encamped in huts at Wilmington and Valley Forge, and Washington 
and Stirling have wagered as to who had the best huts erected. Last year we lay in them and 
our army x. y. z. strong, lies in Philadelphia which is fortified by eleven redoubts and one 
outpost. We are supplied with all that is necessary and superfluous. Assemblies, Concerts, 
Comedies, clubs and the like make us forget there is any war, save that it is a capital joke" 

From the letter book of Captain Johann Heinrichs, Hessian Yager Corps, Jan. 18th 1778. 

Again the Hessian, Somewhat Shaken 

"Here in Philadelphia there are about one thousand royally inclined families who are 
willing to leave hearth and home and with their chattels go with the army. Hence this gives 
rise to the rumor that we are going to leave Philadelphia altogether." 

Letter book of Captain Johann Heinrichs, Hessian Yager Corps, Philadelphia, June 
5th, 1778. 



The Two Howes on Sea and Land 

Lord Howe's indecision of character seems well illustrated by the fact that in 1777, he 
embarked the force, destined for Philadelphia, consisting of 36 British and Hessian battalions, 
the Queen's Rangers and a Regiment of Light Horse, upon transports at New York, together 
with horses and baggage. Forty days of midsummer elapsed before they were finally landed 
at Elk River, Maryland. 

Sir William Howe had originally demanded from the home government, in a letter of 
November 26th, 1775, 19,000 men, estimating that with these he could succeed against the 
colonials, but the war office had sent hirn, in all, 31,476 soldiers, in addition to which, upon 
Nov. 30th 1776 and Jan. !20th 1777 he liad called for 15,000 and 20,000 more men respect- 
ively, or a total proposed force less losses of over 65,000, at a time when the Continental line 
did not exceed 8000 rank and file. In response to Howe's calls the government did increase 
his army to 40,000 men. 

The Pinch of War 

Several members of the Society of Friends resident in Philadelphia, addressed an appeal 
for assistance during the British occupation, to Friends in Ireland. They stated that 
independently of the military the city at that time contained 20,000 people. 

Camp-Following Traders 

Among those who came upon tiie transports were a shoal of "merchants," English and 
Scotch Tories, who seized upon the best of the vacant stores and presently filled the news- 
papers with advertisements of their wares. These newcomers dealt for gold onlj. The num- 
ber of these worthies is stated by Christopher Marshall in his diary for February 28th, 1778, 
as being a hundred and twenty-one. * 

Pessimism of Captain Montressor 

While the Americans hoveretl in doubt and dread of the coming winter around Camp 
Hill, even the confident and comfortable enemy in the city had its blue days. This fact is 
reflected by Captain Montressor's entry of November 1st, 1777, inspired probably by a flag 
through the rebel lines advising the British commander of the disaster to Burgoyne: "We 
are just now an army without provision, a Rum artillery for besieging, scarcely any ammu- 
nition, no clothing, nor any money. Somewhat dejected by Burgoyne's capitulation and not 
elated with our late manoevres as Donop's repulse and Augusta and Merlin being burnt and 
to compleat all being Blockaded " 

Stedman's History of the American War, London, 1794. 

Britain's Forces 

Howe's whole command in America is said to be — 

16th & 17th Regts of Light Dragoons, 1 Brigade of Guards, 5 Companies of Artillery, 
9 Regiments of Foot, 2 Battalions of Marines — British. 

2 Companies of Chasseurs, 18 Rcgts of Foot, 1 Regt Artillery — Hessians. 

Ships — 50 to 28 guns, 34; 20 to 10 guns, 22; Bombs, 2; Armed vessels, 10. 

James Lovell, letter of Sept. 17th, 1777 

A Tory Schoolmaster 

In his "notes on the Secret Service of the Revolutionary army operating around Phila- 
delphia" Dr. Henry Leffman quotes Robert Proud, the "Tory Schoolmaster" (Penna. Mag- 
azine) who taught the sons of rebels good loyalist doctrines at 119 South Fourth street. 

"All of the rebel Party that were in Arms, as well as those that held oflBces under the 
Usurpation and many others of their Connections and Abettors having before left the city," 

63 



(on approval of the British) "carrying off almost everything which they thought might be 
of use to the English Army besides what they apprehended might be wanted by themselves, 
which they took chiefly from the Quakers and such as least favored them." 

"The city is yet safe, but it was fully expected that they" (the rebels) "would have set 
Fire to it, according to repeated Threats and Language of many of thern to do it, when in 
Possession of the English, and then throw the Blame on them as is generally agreed was done 
in New York." 

Hard Lines for Citizens and Prisoners 

The activity of Washington's scouting parties doubtless made it a venturesome matter 
for the country people to keep Philadelphia supplied with enough food. The soldiery got 
most of what did come in, leaving but little for the residents and prisoners. Upon Nov. 17th, 
1777, a rebel spy reported from the city as follows. 

"Every day increases the Price and Scarcity of Provisions. Heaven only knows what 
will become of us if you do not soon relieve us by routing them, the Prisoners have suffered 
very much, as the inhabitants have it not in their power to supply them as they would, they 
are now reduced to three hundred by Inlisting and Sickness so that they fare something 
better." — (From original in Library of Congress copied by Dr. Henry Leffman.) 

Fighting Quakers 

Many of the younger members of the Society of Friends in Philadelphia took sides with 
the American contestants and were "read out of meeting." At the end of the war they de- 
manded to be reinstated and those who were still left outside of the faith formed the Society 
of Free Quakers and built the structure at the south west corner of Fifth and .\rch streets for 
a place of worship. This was, for many years, in later times known as the Apprentices' 
Library. Many of these "Fighting Quakers" were buried in ground given them by the State 
upon the west side of Fifth street below Locust street. 

Loyalist and Patriot Quakers 

After the departure of the enemy from Philadelphia two Quakers named Roberts and 
Carlisle were tried and executed in Philadelphia under martial law. 

Isaac Walker and other members of the Society of Friends hauled all of Washington's 
army stores from W'hite Marsh to Valley Forge free of charge, and the Friends generally in 
the vicinity are credited with much humanity toward the troops. 

Deborah Logan's Diary 

Upon the night follo\^•ing the battle of Germantown many of the American prisoners 
were placed in the State House, the wounded being attended by the British surgeons, where, 
as described in the diary of Deborah Logan the women of the city were allowed to bring them 
food and some medical supplies. One of these patriot ladies being challenged good naturedly, 
because the British wounded in the hospitals did not receive similar favors, said, "Oh! sir, 
it is in your power to fully provide for them but we cannot see our own covmtrymen suffer 
and not provide for them." 

Prison and Trench 

The great prison at the south east corner of Sixth and Walnut streets had been completed 
shortly before the opening of the war and was used by both the Americans and the British to 
house prisoners. Under the charge of the merciless British Provost Marshall John Cunning- 
ham the Americans held there during the British occupation suffered greatly. Many of them 
are numbered among the unnamed thousands buried in the potters' field, now Washington 
Square. 



Philadelphia's Normal Population in 1777 

In 1777 the normal pojiulation of Philadelphia was 23,734 and the nnniher of dwellings in 
and about the city was 5,395. 

A Washington Letter from the Camp 

The following extract from a letter by Washington, in the hand-writing of and dictated 
to Alexander Hamilton, was printed in the Public Ledger a short time ago, with other recently 
discovered Revolutionary letters owned by Mr. W. K. Bixby. 

"The Enemy still remain in possession of Philadelphia and are secured by a strong chain 
of Redoubt with Intrenchments of Communication from Schuylkill to Delaware. We are 
posted on the West side of the former about 20 miles from the City, and with pains and 
industry the Troops are tolerably well covered in Huts. We are to regret we are not 
more comfortably quartered, but circumstances would not admit of it. Had we retired to the 
Towns in the interior of the State a large Tract of fertile Country would have been exposed 
to ravage and ruin and we should have distressed in a peculiar manner the virtuous Citizens 
from Philadelphia who had fled thither for refuge." 

Stedman Upon General Howe 

"lu this infirm and dangerous state he continued from December until May, during 
all which time every person expected that the Commander-in-Chief would have stormed or 
besieged his camp, the situation of which equally invited either attempt. To have posted 
two thousand men on a commanding ground near the bridge, on the north side of the Schuyl- 
kill, would have rendered his escape on the left impossible, two thousand men placed on a 
like ground opposite the narrow pass would have as effectually prevented a retreat in his 
rear, and five or six thousand men, stationed on the front or right of his camp would have 
deprived him of flight upon these sides. — But our army, neglecting all these opportunities, 
was suffered to continue at Philadelphia, where the whole winter was spent in dissipation. 
A want of discipline and proper subordination pervaded the whole army; and if disease and 
sickness thinned the American army encamped at Valley Forge, indulgence and luxury per- 
haps did no less injury to the British troops at Philadelphia." 

Stedman's History of the American W'ar, London, 179-1. 

Greene Loses Officers 

"Yesterday upwards of fifty officers in Gen. Greene's Division resigned their commis- 
sions. Six or seven in our Regiment are doing the like today. All this is occasioned by Officers 
Families being so much Neglected at home on account of Provisions." 

Diary of Surgeon Waldo, Dec. 28th 1777. 

Building the Huts 

The greater number of the huts were built upon the land of Mordecai Moore and David 
Stevens, some being upon the property of other owners. 

"I was there when the army first began to build huts. They appeared to me like a 
family of beavers. Every one bu.sy, some carrying logs, others mud, and the rest plastering 
them together. The whole was raised in a few days and it is a curious collection of build- 
ings in the true rustic order." Paine to Franklin. 

A Midnight Feast 

At 12 of the clock at night Providence sent us a little Mutton with which we imme- 
diately had some Broth made & a fine Stomach for same. Ye who Eat Pumpkin Pie and Roast 
Turkies and yet Curse fortune for using you ill Curse her no more lest she reduce your allow- 
ance of her favours to a bit of Fire Cake & a draught of Cold Water & in Cold Weather too. 

Diary of Surgeon Waldo, Dec. 22, 1777. 

65 



Some Thieving Soldiers 

Even Washington's Life Guard contained men who turned highwaymen and robbed 
the countrymen. Later in the war several of them were hanged for the offense. 

British Goods for Yankee Use 

"The Brigg taken from the Enemy (and mentioned New Years Day) is the greatest 
prize ever taken from them — There is Scarlet — Blue — and Buff Cloth, sufficient to Cloath 
all the Officers of the Army — and Hats — Shirts — Stockings — Shoes — Boots — Spurs — &c, to 
finish compleat Suits for all. A petition is sent to his Excellency that this Cloathing may 
be dealt out to the Regimental Officers only at a moderate price — excluding Commissaries — 
Bull Drivers &c — There are 4 or 5000 Apeletes of gold and Silver — Many chests of private 
Officers Baggage and General How's Silver Plate — and Kitchen furniture &c. This Cargo 
was sent to Cloathe all the Officers of the British Army." "' 

Diary of Surgeon Waldo, Dec. 22d, 1777. 

An Estimate of the American Force 

In December 1777, citing the late Henry Armitt Brown, Esq., the entire army of the 
Americans numbered 12,161 Continentals and 3,241 Militia; about two thirds of whom 
probably went to Valley Forge or were on outpost duty at various points around Philadelphia. 

Blankets Kept in Camp 

"The distress for Blankets makes it necessary to retain those the Soldiers have who 
have been discharged. This order of the Brigadier will be readily complyed with by the 
men who are going home in order to afford more Comfort to their Brother Soldiers who keep 
the Field." 

Stirling's Suggestion 

In a letter to General Washington dated October 29th, 1777, Lord Stirling advised 
making winter quarters somewhere near Radnor Meeting House equally distant from the 
fords of the Schuylkill below Valley Forge. 

At Gulph Mill 

"Cold rainy Day. Baggage ordered over the Gulph of our Division which we were to 
march at Ten, but the baggage was order'd back and for the first time since we have been 
here the Tents were pitch'd to keep the men more comfortable. " — Diary of Surgeon 
Albigence Waldo. 

The Gulph Mill Memorial 

In front of the Gulph Mill, which dates from 1747, a great boulder standing nine feet 
high upon its base was dedicated upon June 19th, 1893, by the Pennsylvania Sons of the 
Revolution. It bears a panel inscribed with the fact that the Continental Army encamped 
in this vicinity from December 13th to the 19th, 1777. 

Valley Forge First Advised 

Probably the first mention of Valley Forge as a desirable wintering place for the Con- 
tinentals Avas made, in his opinion to the Commander-in-Chief, submitted, with others, at 
the White Marsh council of war, by Col. Lutterloh, who urged that one or more brigades 
should be located at " Wolley Forge." 

Washington's Tent 

The location of Washington's Marquee tent is indicated upon a French sketch map in 
the vicinity of Washington redoubt. 
66 



The Commander's Expenses 

Washington received no pay from the Government for his services, but in 1783 he ren- 
dered a detailed account of iiis personal expenses from the date of assuming command of 
the forces. The total amount of the period of nearly seven years being £16,311. 

Billy Lee, Servant 

A humble but highly important functionary of Washington's entourage was his colored 
servant, "Billy Lee," whose portrait by the famous Philadelphia artist, Peale, is now among 
the treasures of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Washington's Life Guard 

By Washington's own account his personal guard in the winter of 1777-8 was composed 
entirely of Virginians. When Baron Steuben proposed to school an especial corps for the 
new drill the Commander-in-Chief's Guard was increased by one hundred new men selected 
from the regiments of other States, making a force of 146 men exclusive of the officers, all 
being native Americans. i 

The Flag of the Life Guard 

The flag of the "Life Guard" or Commander-in-Chief's Guard was deposited in Alex- 
andria, Virginia, after the war, and was still preserved there as late as 1856, in the lodge 
room of the Free Masons. A Wisconsin soldier has written the author that this flag was 
destroyed by a fire during the Civil War. 

Temporary Life Guard Details 

Temporary details of foot antl horse for escort duty has led in later times to much inno- 
cent confusion upon the part of many who have been anxious to claim descent from mem- 
bers of the special guards of Washington. For an accurate and complete list see Dr. C. E. 
Godfrey's book, "The Commander-in-Chief's guard. Revolutionary War." 

A Monument Voted for General Nash 

Weedon Orderly Book, Nov. 11th, 1777. 

"The Hon'ble Continental Congress have passed the following Resolves which have 
been transmitted hither to be made publick in the Army, viz. 

Resolved, that his Excellency Governor Caswell of North Carolina be requested to 
erect a Monument at the Expense of the United States in honour of the Memory of Brigade 
Gen'l Francis Nash who fell in the Battle of German Town on the 4 Day of October 1777, 
bravely contending for the Independence of his Country." 

This was probably the first monument ordered for a Revolutionary hero. 

Anthony Wayne, Soldier 

Anthony Wayne, born at East Town, Pa., became a soldier in the Minute men with 
rank of corporal of minute men before the opening of the War. He gained the rank of colonel 
in two regiments prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was a Brigadier 
General at Valley Forge, and a Brevet-Major General at its close. 

His subsequent career included service in nearly every part of the Union; his most im- 
portant work having been the clearing of the middle west of hostile elements and its opening 
to immigration. 

He was Commander-in-Chief of the army nearly four years, holding this rank at the 
time of his death, aged .51 years at Presque Isle, Pa. His body rested for a long period at 
Erie, but was eventually removed to the churchyard of Old St. Davids, Radnor, Pa. 

67 



Pushing the Defenses 

Wcedon Orderly Book, Jan 15th, 1778. 

"The works mark'd out by the Ingenieurs for the defense of the Camp are to be erected 
with all possible dispatch and the Commander-in-Chief requests the favor of General Green 

Lord Stirling and the Marquis La Fayette to consult with Gen'l Portail on the 

proper means and number of men necessary to execute the works in the different Wing's 
and Second Line and give orders accordingly" 

Angels of Mercy 

Anu)ng the patriotic women of the neighborhood who sought to alleviate the miseries 
of the camp were Sarah Walker, Elizabeth Stephens, Priscilla Stephens, Margaret Beaver, 
Elizabeth Moore and Jane Moore. 

One Well-Provided Mess "Valley Forge, January Uth, 1778. 

"At tJH' request of Col. Stewart the officers of the regiment (13th Pennsylvania) were 
siunmoned to dine with him, where we spent the day in civil jollity. In this manner several 
days were spent passing by rotation from the senior to the junior officers. Thus, and in many 
other desirable enjoyments, we passed some part of the winter campaign making ourselves 
as happy as circumstances would admit." — Diary of Lieut. James McMichael. 

A False Accusation 

General Joseph Meed, Adjutant General, was wrongfully charged with an intention of 
surrendering to the British at Bristol, N. J., immediately prior to the Battle of Trenton. 
The existing testimony to that effect is to be found in the Journal of Margaret Morris, of 
Burlington, N. J., and in a collection of letters published in 1856 by Horace W. Smith under 
the title of "Nuts for Future Historians to Crack." General Wm. S. Stryker, of New Jersey, 
discovered in 1876 that General Joseph Reed was unjustly accused, the person really cul- 
pable having been another officer named Reed holding a commission as colonel. 

A War of Races 

Upon "St. Patrick's day" the Pennsylvania Dutch soldiers set up a stuffed "paddy," 
whereupon the Irish and the Dutch had a fight. This was quieted by Washington by the 
issue of a round of grog for the whole army. 

The Drill Corps 

Weedon Orderly Book, March 17th, 1778. 

"One hundred Chosen men are to be annexed to the Guard of the Commander-in-Chief 
for the purpose of forming a Corps to be instructed in the Maneuvres necessary to be intro- 
duced in the Army and serve as a model for the execution of them. As the Genl's guard is 
compos'd entirely of Virginians the 100 Draughts are to be taken from the Troops of other 
States." 

Enforcing a Good Appearance 

Wayne Orderly Book, March 29th, 1778. 

The General therefore in the most Pointed terms Desires the Officers to oblige their 
men to appear Clean and Decent at all times and upon all Occasions, even Punishing thai; 
Soldier that appears Dirty, whether on Duty or not. The OflBcers will cause the men to wear 
their Hatts in one way in the most Soldierly like Position and oblige them to Mend their old 
clothes so as to make the best appearance possible. The General Expects a Sufficiency of 
Hatts with Some other Clothing for the men every Hour. He has also ordered Col. Byard to 
Lancaster to provide the officers clothing and theDrums and Fifes belonging to the Division. 

Anthonv Wavne, B. G. 



Wayne Orderly Book, April 4th, 1778. 

"Nothing can conduce more to the Health of soldiers than a clean Camp, clean clothes 
and victuals well dressed, this however Deeply Involved in Rags an Army may be, and to 
be effected by Attention in the Officers the General therefore calls upon Every Officer from 
the Major General to the Corporal for their exertion, hoping, therefore, by the Blessing of 
God to prevent Such numbers of Deaths which unfortunately has happened since we came 
to this Place." 

Inspecting the Sick 

Wayne Orderly Book, April 4th, 1778. 

"It is the ^General's positive Orders that all the Invahds be Paraded at the same time 
and that the officers take care that they appear clean and that the whole are paraded, the 
general being Determined to examine every man himself to the End that if any of the Soldiers 
are suffering for want of necessaries or Proper Care or Attention either in the Officers or 
Surgeons that these defects may be Remedied." 

Anthony Wayne, B. G. 

The Lottery 

Wayne Orderly Book, April 27th, 1778. 

"A Few Continental Tickets to be Sold at the Orderly Office, the Drawing of the Lottery 
the first of next month." 

Only Two Days for Guards 

Wayne Orderly Book, April — 

"In future no Guard in Camp is to be suffered to be on Duty more than 48 hours without 
being Relieved. On Monday next the several Brigades will begin their Exercises at 6 o'clock 
in the morning and from 5 o'clock to 6 o'clock in the afternoon." 

Sunday Services 

Weedon Orderly Book. May 2(1, 1778. 

"The Commander in Chief Directs that Divine Service be performed every Sunday at 
11 o'clock in those Brigades to which there are Chaplains — those which have none to attend 
the place of Worship nearest to them." 

Wayne's Order for Neatness 

Wayne Orderly Book, May 12th, 1778. 

Every Commanding officer of Regts and Corps to cause the Taylors to repair the Coats 
or Uniform of the Soldiers Immediately and by all means to Prevent them from carrying 
their provisions or water on their heads or shoulders as nothing tends to destroy and Dirty 
their Hatts and uniforms equal to this unsoldierly Practice. 

Anthony \^'ayne, B. G. 

No More Funeral Volleys 

Weedon Orderly Book, April 12th, 1778. 

"Funeral honors at the Interment of Officers are for the future to be confin'd to a solemn 
procession of Officers and Soldiers in Numbers Suitable to the Rank of the Deceas'd with 
revers'd arms. Fireing on these occasions is to be abolish'd in Camp. " 

The Duello 

Duelling had its sinister hold upon the army even in the midst of its travail. Upon 
April 30th, 1778, Lieutenant Green was killed in an "affair of honor" by Lieutenant White, 
and was buried in one of the churchyards of tipper Merion. 

69 



A Multi-Colored Army 

So diverse were the uniforms provided by the different States to their soldiers that in 
order to distinguish them as friends it was ordered, at the battle of Germantown, that each 
man should wear a piece of white paper in his hat. 

Stirling's Brigade Position 

An interesting sketch map, made by a French engineer and now in possession of former 
Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker, indicates that later the brigade of Lord Stirling was 
stationed upon the slope of the height to the west of the mouth of Valley Creek and near the 
river. 

Lord Stirling, Patriot 

Lord Stirling, William Alexander, was a native of New Jersey. He married the daughter 
of Philip Livingston, of New York. He was a claimant before the British courts for the title 
and escheated estates of the Earl of Stirling, and assumed the title. He was one of the most 
' active of the American officers. He died one week before the declaration of peace. 

A Virginia Brigadier 

General Weedon had been a Virginia tavernkeeper from Fredericksburg, and as he was 
reputed to have served his customers with rum in gourds, he was derisively known in the army 
as "Joe Gourd." There are tales of his cruelty toward his men, but they may have been 
quite as unjust as many other legends of the time reflecting upon officers. Weedon was still 
in the army at the time of the surrender at Yorktown. 

Congressional Diversions at York 

York, Pa., Feb. 20th, 1778 

Balls have been given so often as to call forth remonstrances from all the clergymen in 
the town. 

Diary of Rev. Geo. Neisser. 

Passports at the Bridge 

Wayne Orderly Book, April 17th, 1778. 

"All permits to go out of Camp for the future are to be by Brigadiers or Officers command- 
ing I5rigades. The officers of the Guard at Sullivan's Bridge to carefully Inspect the Paper 
offered them and make himself a Judge of their Authority." 

Straw for the Sick 

Wayne Orderly Book, May 16th, 1778. 

"The Brigade quartermasters to provide straw for the men who have no blankets, the 
sick of the several Regiments to be first supplied." 

Ragged and Discouraged Officers 

"Many officers who have behaved with credit have petitioned me for Leave of Retire 
for a Season or to Resign their Commissions and assigned as a Reason for not waiting on me 
that they were so naked they were ashamed to be seen. That clothing was not to be had and 
even if it was their wages would not enable them to purchase; I have taken pains to Inquire 
of the most sensible officers and have conversed with several General Officers upon the alarm- 
ing spirit of Resignation which takes place in the Army and find they in general say this: 
that they and their men have been marching and countermarching all the year, that they 
have fought no General Action besides Skirmishes, that the cloathes and Shoes which they 
wore out has amounted to their wages, which leaves their Families to suffer at home. That 

70 



the Baggage they sent to Bethlehem has been mostly plundered and they have no possible 
way of replacing it: That the price of Articles bears no proportion to their wages — they 
further say that their Rank has not been settled, that they have been told from time to time 
that this should be done when they Retired to winter Quarters of which they do not see the 
least prospect and that while they have contentedly borne all this they Daily see Congress 
placing men over their heads without any Regard to their Ranks or Services" 

From opinion of Maj. Gen. Sullivan at Council of War at Whitemarsh, Dec. 4th, 1777 

The Whipping Post 

"Thos. Fitzgerald and David Rush Inhabitants of this State Tryed for attempting to 
Relieve the Enemy with Provisions found Guilty of a Breach of a Resolution of Congress 
Oct. 8th '77 and Extended &c. Sentenced each to Receive 100 lashes on Their bare Back." 

Weedon Orderly Book, Feb. 8th, 1778. 

Thos. Butler an Inhabitant of the State of Pennsylvania tried for attempting to Carry 
flour into Philadelphia. Sentenced to receive 250 lashes on his bare back." 

Schuylkill Clam Soup 

Sullivan's men, being posted at the river, enjoyed a special source of nutriment as they 
fished the clams from the river bed and converted them into soup. 

Madame Washington's Relief Corps 

In February, Lady Stirling and Mrs. General Kno.x visited Mrs. Washington, and their 
time was spent in knitting socks for the soldiers. Mrs. Bowen, of Chester County, often 
visited the camp on horseback, bringing gifts of food in the saddle bags, and it is said, by 
Mrs. Margaret B. Harvey, Historian of Merion Chapter, D. of R., that she taught Mrs. 
Washington how to knit stockings. 

Bethlehem and the Moravians 

"For six years Bethlehem, Pa. was a thoroughfare for troops, twice the seat of the Conti- 
nental Hospital and temporarily the refuge of the? American Congress. Upon Dec. 31st, 1777, 
seven hundred sick and wounded soldiers were in the Single Brethren's House. Upwards 
of four hundred Revolutionary soldiers are buried within the limits of the town. 

"In the course of the war nearly every officer of importance in the American Army was 
a guest sick or well at the famous Sun Inn." 

Conditions in the hospitals established at Bethlehem and other points after the cam- 
paign of 1777 were little if any better than those existing at the camp. In the Bethlehem 
hospital where the Moravians assisted the army surgeons and nurses faithfully the want of 
medicines and clothing as well as the crowded condition of the wards occasioned great mor- 
tality. Out of forty men of the Sixth Virginia Regiment sent there all died but three. 

Thomas Paine 

It has been claimed by some WTiters that Thomas Paine, the brilliant, erratic, sceptical 
bohemian who wrote the " Age of Reason," addressed the troops at some time during the encamp- 
ment and in so doing greatly encouraged them. This is, however, apparently beyond con- 
firmation. During much of that winter Paine was a guest in the home of William Henry at 
Lancaster, engaged intermittently in writing his famous Crisis. William Henry, an ancestor 
of Dr. Jordan, of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, was the inventor of the screw augur, 
and with Rittenhouse, Payne and John Hart active in the affairs of the American Philosophical 
Society. 

71 



The Troops with Gates at Saratoga 

The troops under Gates at the battle of Saratoga were Nixon's, Glover's and Patterson's 
Continental brigades, all of Massachusetts. Poor's Brigade of New Hampshire, consisting 
of Cilley's, Scammels and Hale's Regiments. The 3d New York regiment Col. Van Courtlandt, 
4th New York regiment Col. Henry Livingston, two Connecticut militia regiments under 
Colonels Cook and Lattimer, Morgan's Rifle Corps and three hundred light infantry under 
Col. Dearborn of New Hampshire. 

General Conway's Downfall 

Upon February )-28, 1778, General Washington wrote to Col. John F. Fitzgerald at 
Alexandria, Va.: 

"I have a good deal of reason to believe that the machination of this Junta will recoil 
upon their own heads and be a means of bringing some matters to light which, by getting me 
out of the way, they thought to conceal." 

"I am content if they remove any General except his Excellency. The country, even 
Congress, are not aware of the Confidence the Army Places in him, or motions never would 
have been made for Gates to take the Command." — Letter from Capt. Selden, of the Con- 
necticut Line, written at Valley Forge. 

After the collapse of the cabal, Conway resigneil from the Board of War, and having 
been severely wounded in a duel, believing himself about to die, he wrote a contrite letter to 
General Washington. He recovered and left the country. 

Washington wrote to Richard Henry Lee in Congress : 

"General Conway's merit as an officer and his importance in this army exist more in 
his imagination than in reality. For it is a maxim with him to leave no service of his own 
untold, nor to want anything which is to be obtained by importunity." 

The Oath of Allfegiance 

The oath of allegiance was required by an Act of Congress, dated Feb. 3d, 1778, and was 
signed, under the supervision of Brig.-Gen. Anthony Wayne, by 946 officers at Valley Forge, 
116 at Mount Joy and 53 at Albany. 

A Frenchman's Criticism and Appeal 

M. du Portail, a French Colonel and a Brigadier General in the American Army, wrote 
from White Marsh camp upon November 12th 1777 to the French Minister of War in the 
following terms. 

"You will be astonished Sir at this language, but such are these people that they move 
without spring or energy, without vigor, and without passion for a cause in which they are 
engaged, and which they follow only as the impul.se of the hand that first put them in motion 
directs. There is an hundred times more enthusiasm for this revolution in any one coffee- 
house of Paris, that in all the Thirteen Provinces united. It is necessary, then, that France, 
to accomplish this revolution should furnish these people with every requisite to lessen the 
hardships of war. True, it will cost some millions, but they will be well laid out in annihilating 
the power of England, which, bereft of her colonies, without a navy and without commerce, 
will lose her consequence in the world and leave France without a rival." 

Market Days in the Camp 

Weedon Orderly Book, Feb. 8th, 1778. 

"Tomorrow being the Day appointed for Opening the Market at the Stone Chimney 
Pickett the Army is desired to take notice of the same. Markets will beheld at the same place 
every Monday and Thursday, on the East side of the Schuylkill near the North Bridge Every 
Tuesday and Friday, near the Adju't Genl's Office Every Wednesday and Saturday." 

72 



A Pleasing Tradition 

A letter in the Philadelphia Hem, May 27th, 1898, dated at Glen Bock, Pa., includes a 
statement that one day the camp was rejoiced by the arrival of ten teams of Oxen driven by 
women, hauling supplies, including two thousand shirts made for the army by the women of 
Philadelphia. The writer does not explain how these goods got through the British lines. 

Washington's Barbaric Entourage 

Washington's Indian auxiliaries formed at times a picturesque feature of the army. 
Lieut. Enos Beeves, describing a grand review (Sept. 13th, 1780), thus refers to them as 
they appeared in the retinue of the Commander-in-Chief: 

"I must inform you that his same Motley Crew, that we have just received with such 
pomp, is no less than a number of Indian Chiefs of the Stockbridge Oneida and several other 
Nations of whom a Colonel Lewis is the principal. He has been of infinite service since this 
War commenced and has brought several chiefs of different Nations to see the French at 
Bhode Island where they were a novelty and were treated with the utmost civility. They 
were taken through all our Army and saluted at the Park with thirteen pieces of ordnance, 
which they received with a hideous Yell but were much pleased with it. They are enter- 
tained by His Excellency at his own Table; dine, breakfast &c with his family and the Gen'l 
Officers that attend there" 

A Polish Volunteer 

Cassimir, Count Pulaski, of Poland, was at Valley Forge for a time, occupying the house 
of Devault Beaver (now owned by Henry Warburton). He left there to recruit the Pulaski 
Legion (cavalry). The banner for this corps was made by the Moravian nuns of Bethlehem. 

Baron Steuben, Drillmaster 

Wayne Orderly Book, March 6th, 1778. 

"Baron Steuben, a Lieut. General in Foreign Service and a gentleman of great Military 
Experience Having oblidgingly undertaken the exercise of the Office of Inspector General 
in this Army, the Commander-in-Chief, till the Pleasure of Congress shall be known Desires 
that he will be Respected and Obeyed as such and hopes and expects that all Officers of 
whatever Rank in it will Afford him every aid in their Power in the execution of his office." 

Soon after the Baron Steuben had reached the Camp he wrote of his impressions in 
these words: "The arms at Valley Forge were in a horrible condition covered with rust, 
half of them without bayonets, many from which a single shot could not be fired. The pouches 
were quite as bad as the arms. A great many of the men had tin boxes instead of pouch , 
others had cow horns, and muskets, carbines, fowling pieces and rifles were seen in the same 
company. The description of the dress is most easily given. The men were literally naked, 
some of them in the fullest sense of the word. The officers who had coats had them of every 
color and make. I saw officers at a grand parade at Valley Forge mounting guard in a sort 
of dressing go^vn made of an old blanket or woolen bed cover. With regard to their military 
discipline I may safely say that no such thing existed." 

Many of the powder horns still largely in use, especially with the riflemen, which were 
a novelty to Baron Steuben, were decorated with rude defiances and considerable sentiment. 
This custom seems to have been popular with both sides. Following are a few examples: 

"I, powder, with my brother, ball 
Hero like do conquer all" 

"The red-coat who steals this Horn 
Will go to hel as shures hes Born" 

"Down with the Tyrant King!" 

73 



« "Yankee doodle cum to Town 

Wareing linen breeches 
He made the red-coats leave the sound 
And filled up all his Ditches" 

"By the first day of April Steuben had already impressed his enthusiasm for discipline 
upon the army. On that date John Laurens wrote: "I must not omit to inform you that 
Baron Steuben is making sensible progress with our Soldiers. The officers seem to have a 
high opinion of him, and discover a docility from which we may augur the most happy effects. 
It would enchant you to see the enlivened scene of our Campus Martius." 

Baron Steuben died November 25th, 1795, at the age of sixty-six years, upon his large 
land-grant in this vicinity of Utica, N. Y., where he was buried in uniform. His aide. Col. 
North, inherited his property and erected a monument to his memory. 

Steuben's Drill Corps 

Steuben first exhibited his Headquarters drill-corps before the Inspectors and other 
officers upon April 6th, 1778. The officers of the infantry at this time, were Captain Caleb 
Gibbs, Lieutenant Livingston, Lieutenant Benjamin Grymes, Lieutenant William Colfax 
and Surgeon Samuel Hanson, son of the President. of Congress. The uniform of the horse 
was of dark blue, with a helmet adorned by a fox tail, and that of the infantry guards a dark 
blue coat faced with buff, red vest, buckskin breeches, white cross belts and a black cocked 
hat, edged with white tape. , 

Charles Lee, Traitor 

"At the time of his exchange (which was arranged at Germantown) Lee was at Yorktown 
on parole, and on the day fixed for his reporting at headquarters the greatest preparations 
were made for his reception. "All of the principal officers of the Army were drawn up in 
two lines, advanced of the camp about 2 miles toward the Enemy. Then the Troops with the 
inferior officers formed a line quite to head-quarters — all the Music of the Army attended. 
The General with a great number of principal Officers and their Suites rode about four miles 
on the road toward Philadelphia, and waited until Gen'l Lee appeared. General Washington 
dismounted and rec'd Gen'l Lee as if he had been his Brother. He passed thro' the Lines 
of Officers and the Army who paid him the highest military Honors at Headquarters, where 
Mrs. Washington was and here he was entertained with an elegant Dinner and the music 
playing the whole time." — Journal of Elias Boudinot. 

Charles Lee was the son of a British general. He took part in the capture of Montreal 
in 1760. After an absence of thirteen years in Europe, duringwhich he had a varied military 
career, he returned to America and offered his services to Congress. He obtained a commission 
of Major General. His egotism found expression in an attitude of covert hostility toward 
Washington. His treasonable purposes were established upon the publication of Lord Howe's 
papers in 1857, for among them was found a plan of Campaign written by Lee, while a prisoner 
in New York, for the guidance of the British Commander. 

The Gallows 

The gallows is said to have been situated upon the land of David Stevens, a little north 
of the Gulf Road, and near the corner of the country line intersection. The land was after- 
ward the property of W'illiam Henry. 

The Executioners 

The Provost Marshals force at Valley Forge was organized aud mounted as light dra- 
goons, and among the subalterns were four executioners. These men administered the pun- 
ishments of hanging and flogging so frequently imposed by the courts-marshal in the several 
brigades. 

74 



Marquis de Lafayette and His Companions 

On liis arrival, he and his companions were much surprised and discouraged by the recep- 
tions they met with. Mr. Deane, the officers were told, had gone far beyond his instructions 
in making contracts with those who desired to enter the American service, especially by 
attempting to provide commissions in our army for them. The position of Congress was one 
of great delicacy and difficulty. It was embarrassed by Mr. Deane's promises, not merely 
because no new officers were needed, but also because their appointment in accordance with 
the promise made by Deane would make them outrank the American officers, who from the 
beginning had borne the burden and heat of the day, and who were in most cases quite as 
competent for their work as those who sought to supersede them. Besides, although La 
Fayette professed his disinterestedness, yet Congress could not shut its eyes to the fact that 
he was, after all, only a runaway French officer, whose appointment in our army might pro- 
duce at the Court of France a most unfavorable impression at a time when we were negotiat- 
ing for a close alliance with that power. Then, in addition to all this, it was not the practice 
to make men major-generals who were but nineteen years old, and who, of course, had had 
no military experience. We Were then, it must be remembered, absolutely dependent for 
our military supplies upon France, and they had been purchased in that country for us by 
Mr. Deane. Deane was not only our purchasing agent, but he assumed to be, to a large 
number of French officers who desired to enter into our .service, authorized to issue military 
commissions to them. As he had received no such instructions from our government and no 
authority from France to confer these commissions in that country, his heedless conduct had 
to be disavowed. 

Under circumstances such as these Congress may well have been embarrassed, and the 
members who tried to speak French with La Fayette's companions were certainly not cordial ; 
but it seemed that there was no alternative, and the extraordinary step was taken, July 31, 
1777, of making a boy of nineteen years of age a major-general, in "consideration," as the 
resolution stated, "of his zeal, illustrious family and connections." It is true that in order 
to save appearances the appointment was called an honorary one. Kalb and his other friends 
at first sought commissions in vain, but within a short time, probably at the earnest request 
of La Fayette himself, Kalb was made a major-general, his commission bearing the same date 
as that of La Fayette. There seems to have been a certain fascination about La Fayette at 
this time which carried beyond the bounds of prudence in this matter the members of the 
Continental Congress. Even Washington himself does not seem to have escaped the conta- 
gion of that sympathy which everywhere surrounded him. The first time he saw him he 
treated him as his own son and begged that he would make the cjuarters of the Commander- 
in-Chief his home. Nothing is more curious and interesting about this book of Mr. Tower 
than the new light which his account of the relations between Washington and La Fayette 
throws upon the characteristics of the former. To himself Washington does not appear as 
the cold, reserved, dignified personage whom he is justly represented to be in his intercourse 
with others. In every letter which he writes to La Fayette the gentle, affectionate, and tender 
side of his nature is most conspicuous, and La Fayette received it all with a loving, filial 
reverence which showed how he valued the absolute confidence which the great chief reposed 
in him. All his letters breathe the same spirit. Indeed, the affectionate relations between 
Washington and La Fayette, continuing without a break for nearly a quarter of a century 
seem unparalleled in the history of the former's life. — From reviews of "The Marquis De La 
Faj'ette in the American Revolution," by Charlemagne Tower, I'r., LL. D. Dr. Chas. J. 
Stille in the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1895. 

The Guest of a Grateful Nation in 1824 

Forty-six years later this dashing French soldier was to come once more to America as 
the guest of a grateful people. He came marked by the heavy hand of time, but with enough 

75 



of his native str^agth and buoyant spirits to withstand an unparalleled reception which lasted 
an entire year. The fortune which, in his youth, had been freely used in behalf of America 
was gone, but he made no complaint of poverty, nevertheless the nation presented him, as 
a token of its appreciation of his services, Avith the sum of $200,000, together -with a grant of 
land. Lafayette's official reception took place in Philadelphia September 28th, 182-i. 

Upon the following day a deputation of citizens of the neighborhood countryside called 
upon the Marquis de Lafayette to invite him to visit Valley Forge and other scenes of Revo- 
lutionary interest. He repaired to the field of Brandywine, but other plans prevented him 
from again viewing Valley Forge. 

A Private Soldier's Observation 

"One hundred and two of the Life Guard and three thousands of the army was sent under 
the command of the Right Honorable Maj. Gen. Delefiatee and we marched to Barronhill 
Church and there we made a halt and Formed a line of battle and our guard Lay in the Front 
of the Party by Gen. Marques Quarters sixteen miles from Valleyford." — Diary of Elijah 
Fisher, private, Life Guard, May 18, 1778. 

Aaron Burr 

Matthew L. Davis, Biography of Aaron Burr, tells a story to the effect that Lieutenant 
Colonel Burr being placed in command of the militia at Gulph Mills, provoked a mutiny by 
his severity, and when a soldier stepped from the ranks to shoot him, nearly severed the 
man's arm with his sword. 

Some Existing Orderly Books 

Brigadier General Philip Reade, U. S. A., retired, has kindly furnished the author with 
the following data: 

At the Congressional Library, Washington, is the original orderly book, kept at \'aliey 
Forge by Capt. John Stagg, A. A. G., and examined by Col. Alexander Scammell; also an 
orderly book of 185 pages, known as that of 1778, and the orderly book kept by Capt. Richard 
Varick. 

Washington's original orderly book, kept by Mayor Samuel Shaw, is at the Boston 
Atheneum, where also is a volume copy of the Washington orderly book, kept by Lieutenant 
and Adjutant John Whiting, of the 2d Mass. Infantry. This was published by Col. Henry 
Whiting. 

General Reade also calls attention to the orderly books kept by Lieut. John Irvin and by 
Capt. Benjamin Fishborne, of the 4th Pennsylvania Infantry. These are in possession of 
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

The New York Historical Society has orderly books written by Adjutant Peter Taulman, 
of Malcolm's Regiment, and Lieut. John Steele, of the 9th Virginia Infantry. 

An Affair of Cavalry at Signal Hill 

One of the historic landmarks identified with the period of encampment is Signal Hill, 
at Devon, Pa., now owTied by Mr. Wm. T. Hunter. A Colonial house nearby, now occupied 
as a dwelling, was the scene of a skirmish upon January 14, 1778, in which Captain Henry 
Lee, the "Light Horse Harry" of Revolutionary fame, with fourteen men of Col. Brand's 
Virginia cavalry regiment, defended the house against a large force of Tarleton's dragoons 
until upon the arrival of reinforcements the enemy was repulsed. 

At New Centreville, upon the road from Devon to Valley Forge, stands the Great Valley 
Baptist Church, the congregation of which this year (1911) celebrates its bi-centennial. It 
was used as a hospital, and in its church-yard are buried numbers of Continental soldiers. 

76 



A Dash at the Enemy 

June 18th — This day we learned the enemy had left Philadelphia. About 12 o'clock 
Gen'l Poor's, Varnum's and Huntingdon's Brigades and another Southern Brigade marched 
off, and we had orders with the rest of the whole army to march to-morrow morning at 5 
o'clk. — Journal of Ebenezer Wild. 

The Band Came Back 

The British Army was gone from Philadelphia, probably forever, but one hundred and 
twenty-.seven years later the band of the Grenadiers came back, December, 1904, and stand- 
ing in front of Independence Hall, facing the statue of Washington, played the "Star-Span- 
gled Banner." 

Hessian Prisoners at the Camp 

In an address upon June 18th, 1898, the Hon. Samuel W'. Pennypacker referred to the 
occupation of the Valley Forge huts by a portion or Burgoyne's captive army. 

Brigadier General John Knox 

John Knox was a young bookseller of Boston, who attracted the attention of Washington 
by his energy in bringing a large number of cannon through the wilderness from Ticonderoga 
to Boston. 

Formation of Artillery and Cavalry Bodies 

According to Lossing, eighteen new Brigadiers were commissioned in the spring of 1777, 
the artillery and cavalry arms being recruited about the same period. 

French Officers in the American War 

At the request of the American Minister to France, a careful study was made, in 18-19, 
of the national army records, which resulted in the compilation of the names of about three 
hundred French officers who served in the American Army of the Revolution either as volun- 
teers or with their commands in the French contingent. 

An Office Nobody Wanted 

Major General Thos. Mifflin offered his resignation as Quartermaster General upon 
October 8th, 1777, "on account of ill health," but was induced to continue in the office tem- 
porarily. Major General Nathaniel Greene consented reluctantly to take the position and 
assumed it upon March 2nd, 1778, retaining his rank and right to lead troops in battle. 

Trouble in the Camp 

Sergeant Andrew Kemp, writing upon June 13th, 1788, to his mother, who lived in 
Chester County, told the following story : 

"We have had a dreadful time of it through the winter at Valley Forge, sometimes for a 
week at a time with nothing but frozen potatoes and even worse still for clothing. Sometimes 
the men obliged to sleep by turns for want of blankets to cover the whole, and the rest keep- 
ing watch by the fires. There is hardly a man who has not been frostbitten. * * * But our 
distress for want of food was nothing compared to the grumbling of some of the men and, I 
an sorry to say, of some of the officers. I really thought we should have a meeting once or 
twice, but we weathered it through without it. Some hard things are said since about some 
of the officers." 

77 



An Echo of the Barren Hill Episode 

Wayne Orderly Book,' May 14th, 1778. 

"At a general Court Martial whereof Col. Febecker was President Lieut. Carter of Col. 
Baylese's Regt. of Light Dragoons Tryed for Neglect of Duty in leaving the different Roads 
Unguarded from Barren Hill Church to Philadelphia by which the Enemy advanced a body 
of Horse and foot to said Church and Surprised and made prisoners of a subaltern and his 
party who had Returned to the Church for Refreshment." 

(Lieutenant Carter was acquitted of this charge.) 

An Indian Martyr 

" I was called to relieve a Soldier tho't to be dying — he expired before I reached the Hutt. 
He was an Indian, an excellent Soldier — an obedient good natur'd fellow. He engaged for 
money doubtless as others do: — but he served his country faithfully — he has fought for tho.se 
very people who disinherited his forefathers — having finished his pilgrimage, he was discharged 
from the War of Life and Death."" Diary of Surgeon Waldo, Jan. 4, 1778. 

News from the Battlefield 

Extract from a letter written by Sergeant Andrew Kemp to his mother. 

"Monmouth Court House July '2d 1778 

"God be thankful we have had a glorious victory. The British troops commanded by 
Sir Henry Clinton and ours by General Washington were nearly matched, say ten thousand 
each. We fought from the forenoon till nigh dark, and our whole loss killed and missing is 
short of seventy while the British lost about three hundred, and among them a Col. Monks 
or Monkston. The men behaved very nobly and the morning after when we found that the 
enemy had decamped over night the General (Washington) thanked us all from horseback. 
But one thing there is which has occasioned much disturbance among us. I mean the conduct 
of General Lee who attempted to retreat, and who has since been put under order to be court- 
martialed." 

An Estimate of Strength 

Upon May 8th, 1778, at a Council of War the Commander-in-Chief announced that 
exclusive of cavalry and artillery, the continental force numbered 15,000 men, of which 11, 
800 were at Valley Forge, 1,400 at Wilmington, under command of Brig-Gen. W'illiam Small- 
wood and 1,800 upon the North river under Maj.-Gen. McDougall. It was estimated that 
the whole army did not exceed 20,000 men at that time. 

We Who are About to Die 

Several Revolutionary historians relate that prisoners of war upon the British hulk 
"Jersey" in Wallabout Bay, East River, New York, in the depths of their despair inscribed 
upon its gloomy walls the following soul-inspiring message to their countrymen. Many of 
these heroes were Pennsylvanians of Wayne's Division: 

"If you are victorious and our coimtry emerges free and independent from the contest 
in which she is now engaged, but the end of which we are not permitted to see, bury us in her 
soil and engrave our names on the monument you shall erect over our bones as victims who 
willingly surrendered their lives as a portion of the price paid for your liberties, and our 
departed spirits will never murmur or regret the sacrifice we made to obtain for you the bless- 
ings you enjoy."' 

An Alert Army 

Washington's orders for the day from May 25th, 1778, reveal an expectation doubtless 
based upon secret information from the city, that the British were likely to move out at any 
time and that the American forces should be ready for instant action. The care with which 
the details were worked out is proven by the celerity and good order attending the departure 
of the army in the pursuit of Howe. 

78 



In Care of the Sick 

When the Army departed from Valley Forge one commissioned officer to every fifty 
men left behind was detailed to remain, with brigade surgeons, to care for sick and disabled 
soldiers. Col. Courtlandt was left in command. Many of the ladies of the vicinity assisted 
the women army nurses in the hospitals. 

A Polish Hero 

Count Casimer Pulaski, a brave officer from Poland, was commissioned as Brigadier- 
General. He commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Brandy wine and later resigned in 
order to recruit the famous Legion of 68 horse and 200 foot bearing his name. He was wound- 
ed at the siege of Savannah upon October 9th, 1779, and died two days later. A monument 
to his memory occupies a prominent location in that city. 

The Camp Field Three Years After Abandonment 

"On Monday Lt. McLean and I set off for the city of Philadelphia. Came around by 
the springs, lost our way by going the back road and found ourselves near the Bull Tavern 
at the Valley Forge. We dined near Moor Hall, came thro' our old Encampment, or rather 
the first huts of the whole army. Some of the officers' huts are inhabited, but the greatest 
part are decayed, some are split up into rails, and a number of fine fields are to be seen on the 
level ground that was cleared, but in places where they have let the shoots grow it is already 
like a half-grown wood." 

Lieut Enos Reeves, Penna Line Sept. 1781. 

Washington's Tour of the Old Camp Ground in 1787 

July 30th 1787. , 

In company with Mr. Gov'r Morris and in his Phaeton with my horses: went up to one 
Jane Moore's in the vicinity of Valley Forge to get Trout. 

July 31st, 1780. 

Whilst Mr. Morris was fishing I rid over the old Cantonment of the American (Armj) 
of the winter of 1777—8 — visited all the works wch were in Ruins, and the Incampments 
in woods where the ground had not been cultivated. On my return to Mrs. Moores found 
Mr Robt Morris and his Lady there. 

Diary of George Washington. 

The Wages of War 

As fixed by Congress, the pay of a colonel of infantry, per month, was $75.00; of cap- 
tains, $40.00; of sergeants, $10.00, and of privates, $6.33. 

Years after the close of the war numerous veteran associations were engaged in the effort 
to obtain from the government money due their members because of the depreciation of the 
currency in which they had been paid. 

Real Money, After Five Years of Scrip 

"We marched from our encampment about 11 o'clock yesterday, crossed Schuylkill 
bridge, and marched into the city down Chestnut Street about one o'clock, the detachment 
divided into two Battalions. We marched down Front Street and embarq'd near the Draw- 
bridge, hauled off in the Stream and fell down opposite Almond Street. About an lioiu- after 
the most of the officers went on shore and received from the Paymaster one month's pay in 
hard money; the first of the kind any of our line ever received" 

Letter book of Lieutenant Enos Reeves, Oct. 2d, 1781. 

79 




To Valley Forge 

on the Main Line of the 

Philadelphia & Reading Railway 



VALLEY FORGE is reached from the Read- 
ing Terminal, Spring Garden Street and 
Columbia Avenue Stations of the Phila- 
delphia & Reading Railway via the trains of the 
Schuylkill Division. Distance 24 miles. 

The regular one-way fare is 59 cents. Special 
one-day round-trip fares of 75 cents are in effect 
on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer 
season. vSpecial rates for parties and excursions 
of 10 or more on application to Edson J. Weeks, 
General Passenger Agent, Reading Terminal, 
Philadelphia. 

The station at Valley Forge is close by the 
Washington Headquarters, and but a short walk 
from the Washington Inn, the picnic grounds and 
Valley Creek boat landing. 



'. tillwww%fNritML«it!PWmfft«wwataB»v» - 



.<jf* 



.^>*' 




SITC OF 
OLD FORGC DA 




"'^>J 



^.U Y- 



:^«.ri)8i V 



wrrrrrs moopcs. 



>MMHvwniMwe«MK«ew«l«»^'tHil9^^ 



{:.-.vi-.;={;:ss;'St.-roi*4W;»«.-*-- 






ja.<i».. rj|i » H8Mi i. t\ i <; HM WI H ii lW i i iH WW iiii 'l,> [ i|ii iw»wi»mwi|i|Wi iu.iiW H » ■ 



l\'"^ 










(Udsbington 



-^ 



Tnn 



T T^ISITORS to Valley Forge will find the utmost in comfort 
' and convenience at this beautiful Inn. Excellent accom- 
modations, food and service always available for the unexpected 

guest. Garage. 

DANIEL J. VOORHEES 

Proprietor 



FRANKLIN PHOTO 
ENGRAVING HOUSE 

632 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 



The illustrations in this book were made 
by us. We invite attention to them as 
examples of our workmanship. 

Estimates for all kinds of illustrations for 
publishers and business advertising. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 800 097 3 



